SCHOOL ORGANIZATION 

AND THE 

INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



A book for school executives and 
teachers, being an exposition of 
plans that have been evolved to 
adapt school organization to the 
needs of individual children, nor- 
mal, supernormal and subnormal. 



By WILLIAM H. HOLMES, Ph. D. 

Superintendent of Schools, Westerly, Rhode Island 



THE DAVIS PRESS 

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS 

1912 






"3 



,\ 



Copyright, 1912 
By William H. Holmes 



£d.A327l89 



To 
Louise Macdonald Holmes 

and to those teachers, a small but growing company, who 

have experienced the joy of teaching boys and girls 

as individuals, this book is dedicated with the 

hope that it may be a means of helping 

to inspire other teachers to know 

and follow the new and better 

way of individualized 

education. 



Part One 
NORMAL CHILDREN 



FOREWORD 

Within the past few years we have been coming to meas- 
ure education by a new standard, the standard of individual 
achievement. This means that we have begun to differentiate 
the abilities of children, and to estimate the success of school 
work, not in terms of a general standard, but in terms of 
what each individual is able to do within the range of his 
own ability. This new standard has made necessary a modi- 
fication of school organization, and there now appear schools 
for gifted children, for ordinary children, for slow and back- 
ward children, and for mentally defective children, and with- 
in these groups there are various forms of procedure for 
meeting more efficiently the needs of the members of each 
group. 

The present volume undertakes the task of presenting 
in a somewhat detailed manner the various plans that have 
been evolved to make school organization fit the needs of 
the boys and girls both normal and abnormal that are enrolled 
as pupils in the public schools. 

The part of the book dealing with plans of classification 
and adaptation brings together information from many 
different sources, information that every school executive 
must have to make his work intelligently efficient. In 
interpreting such a large mass of material, doubtless, mistakes 
have been made; the writer hopes that they are not such as 
to interfere with the general usefulness of the book. 

The second part of the book, dealing with the treatment 
of abnormal children in the public schools, represents the 
first attempt to bring together information that the general 
school executive and special class teachers need in order to 
organize and carry on the work of so-called auxiliary classes 



10 FOREWORD 

or schools for mentally defective children. The aim has 
been to make the presentation plain and clear, rather than 
learned and technical, to the end that school men and women 
may be able to know the needs of these unfortunate members 
of the community. It has furthermore been the hope of 
the writer to bring home to the general reader some under- 
standing of the great problem of the mentally unfit, some 
two hundred thousand of whom are members of our popula- 
tion, while only a few thousands, some fifteen thousand per- 
haps, have the custodial care that all should have if the great- 
est cause of crime, vice, poverty and degradation is to be 
made inoperative. 

The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to 
many superintendents, normal school principals and special 
teachers who have kindly furnished much special informa- 
tion. He is also under deep obligation for encouragement 
and aid to Dr. G. Stanley Hall, Dr. W. H. Burnham and 
Dr. Theodate L. Smith of Clark University, whose combined 
work in the interest of the better education of children 
deserves the gratitude of the whole world. 



Chapter One 

GRADING, CLASSIFICATION, AND SPECIAL 
SCHOOLS 

Introduction 

The aim of this study is to present the fundamental 
principles of the various plans of grading, classification 
and instruction that have been worked out in the United 
States and some of the European countries for the 
purpose of better adjusting the organization of the 
schools to the needs of the individual children. 

Such a comparative study has never been made, 
and much valuable material on this vitally important 
topic of school administration is wholly unknown to 
many school officials and teachers and quite beyond 
the reach of many others. 

While the study will give due emphasis to the 
organization of special, or auxiliary schools and classes, 
it will place even greater stress on adequate provision 
for meeting the needs of the vastly greater number of 
normal boys and girls. There seems to be a rather gen- 
eral agreement that the number of really defective 
children (not counting imbeciles and idiots) is not less 
than one per cent, of the total school population. For 
such children special instruction in separate schools 
under specially trained teachers is an absolute neces- 
sity. It has been further estimated that an additional 
seven per cent. (Goddard says fifteen per cent.) of 
school children are so backward as to require somewhat 
different instruction from that given the abler children. 
This latter estimate is, of course, rather arbitrary. It 



12 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

is, however, past dispute that there are many children 
who while they are not really defective yet lack the 
ability to make normal progress under the ordinary 
mass methods of instruction. For such children the 
ungraded class or supplementary individual instruction 
is a requisite to school progress. 

A full treatment of the organization and equip- 
ment of special and ungraded schools and classes as 
developed both in this and foreign countries will be 
given in the second part of this study. 

Turning now to the elementary or people's schools, 
we find that the idea that every human being should 
be educated simply because he is a human being, was 
first vitalized in the brain of Comenius. Luther and 
his followers advocated the education of man because 
of his immortal soul, and education was the spiritual- 
izing process by which this soul was to be saved, but 
Comenius looked upon education as the process by 
which all mankind should be humanized. 

"To Comenius," as Laurie states, "we owe the 
modern graded school, for his plan of gradation was 
so well devised that with slight modifications it is now 
the state system of Germany. " 

The system of class or simultaneous instruction 
is probably due to Canon LaSalle who in 1680 founded 
the society of Christian Brothers and imparted to them 
this method of teaching. 

The simultaneous or class method of instruction 
was, however, adopted very slowly, and Landon tells 
us the individual method by which the master called 
the pupils to his desk one by one to recite their lessons 
and receive explanations lingered late "even in the 
heart of Prussia and was in vogue in 5844 primary 
schools of France as late as 1843." It held sway in 
some of the leading schools of Scotland until well into 
the last quarter of the nineteenth century. 



GRADING, CLASSIFICATION AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 13 

In our own country, Dr. Grimshaw writing in 
Barnard's Journal in 1855 deprecates "the time wasted 
by the old fashioned and false method of teaching in- 
dividuals instead of classes." "I notice," he con- 
tinues, "in my visits to the schools many pupils sitting 
idle; sometimes part of the school is asleep or what is 
worse, engaged in making a noise and disturbing the 
remainder who may desire to be industrious." 

The individual method was driven out of England 
by the monitorial systems of Bell and Lancaster; 
while, doubtless, the classroom system of the larger 
cities of the United States was imported from Germany. 
Pestalozzi himself tells us he was driven by necessity 
to class instruction. "Being obliged to instruct the 
children myself, without any assistance, I learnt the 
art of teaching a great number together; and as I had 
no other means of bringing the instruction before them 
than that of pronouncing everything to them loudly 
and distinctly, I was naturally led to the idea of making 
them draw, write, and work all at the same time." 

We see then that for centuries individual instruc- 
tion was the chief instrument of learning and that class, 
or mass, instruction is a rather modern invention. It 
is evident that so long as individual teaching prevailed 
the evils attendant upon the rigid classification of the 
modern school could not occur. Every pupil was a law 
unto himself, and the spur that comes from mental 
contact was scarcely known. 

During the middle part of the last century indi- 
vidual teaching fell into disgrace and with the rise of 
the factory city and the graded school the emphasis 
was placed on class teaching and class organization. 
Indeed, a careful perusal of the volumes of Barnard's 
Journal and of the early volumes of the proceedings of 
the American Institute of Instruction would almost 
lead one to believe that individual children scarcely 



14 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

existed in the schools of those days, so little is said of 
their needs. 

Matters in America, however, began to change 
for the better in the seventies along with the intro- 
duction of the kindergarten idea and with Dr. William 
T. Harris's discussion of the principles of classification 
and grading in his reports as superintendent of the St. 
Louis schools. 

The importance of the individual child has since 
then been brought to the front slowly but surely, until 
now the principle is rather firmly established that the 
school should be organized to meet the varying needs of 
the individuals who comprise it. 

Under the plan of organization now general 
throughout this country the elementary school course 
of study is divided into eight yearly units of work called 
grades. By following such a course a normal child 
entering school at the age of six and making normal 
progress is able to complete the elementary school 
at the age of fourteen years. 

It is, however, a fact well known and one that has 
recently been brought home to school administrators 
by several investigations, notably those of Ayers, 
Cornman, Bryan and Thorndike, that a large number 
of pupils do not proceed normally through the grades. 
Many of the pupils in some of the very best of our city 
school systems, are one, two, three, and even four years 
behind what is called the normal age of their grades. 

Ayers' recent book, "Laggards in Our Schools," 
has, doubtless, done much to call attention to the vast 
amount of retardation and elimination of pupils in the 
public schools. Such a study, however, is only a 
beginning and, if really valuable results are to be ob- 
tained, more intensive studies of different cities must 
be made. Conditions in different cities are so various 
that one is led to doubt the value of inferences drawn 



GRADING, CLASSIFICATION AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 15 

from the comparison of amounts of school retardation 
in two cities so different in their social and industrial 
make-up as Medford, Massachusetts, and Camden, 
New Jersey. These two cities stand respectively at 
the head and the foot of the list of cities which Ayers has 
chosen for his study of school retardation. Medford 
is largely a suburban, residential city with a relatively 
small foreign population, comprising people such as 
would naturally appreciate the opportunities afforded 
their children by the public schools and would co- 
operate in bringing about their regular attendance. 

Camden, on the other hand, has a relatively large 
foreign population, a condition affecting school retarda- 
tion in a marked degree. The lower grades in such a 
city are often filled with over-age pupils who have 
recently come from countries where they have had no 
educational advantages. Furthermore, the attendance 
of pupils from the class of homes we should naturally 
expect to find in Camden is often irregular, thus caus- 
ing the pupils to fall behind their classes, resulting 
finally in demotion and retardation. Again, the struggle 
for existence among families of this class is so severe 
that it is the tendency of the children to leave school 
at the earliest possible moment to help increase the 
family income. Elimination from the upper grades 
naturally results. Furthermore, the matter of child 
labor laws, school attendance laws, and provisions for 
their enforcement must be taken into account in any 
really scientific study. 

The normal age limit for the different grades chosen 
by Ayers seems open to question. By his standards 
all children who are eight or more years old at the end 
of the first school year are counted as retarded. By 
such a standard many of the children in Kansas City, 
Missouri, for example, would be counted retarded. 
Under the school laws of Missouri no city can expend 



16 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

public money for the education of children under six 
years of age. Because of this law a great majority 
of the six year old children who take advantage of 
kindergarten instruction would enter the first grades 
some months after their seventh birthday and would 
inevitably be counted at the end of the year as retarded 
or over-age children. Ayers' contention would prob- 
ably be that the general tendency in most sections of 
the country is for children to enter school at five or six 
years of age ; still, if there is anything of value in the 
theory of physiological age and psychological age as 
distinguished from chronological age, as manifested in 
different children of the same racial stock and in the 
children of different racial stocks, it would seem that 
it might be pedagogically correct to find children with 
a difference of two or even three years in age engaged 
upon the same grade of work. Ayers' study loses much 
of its significance for a great many cities and towns if 
his normal age limit is raised one year for each grade, 
thus making it eight years for the first grade and fifteen 
years for the eighth grade. In view of the fact that 
the best teachings of physiological science would support 
the practice of not sending the child to school before 
the age of seven or eight years, it would seem that the 
age limits chosen by Ayers might be open to question. 
The greatest value of his study lies in the fact that it 
shows the vital need of more intensive studies in single 
communities or groups of communities presenting 
similar social and economic conditions. 

Let us look now a little more specifically at the 
inner workings of the school. While a detailed dis- 
cussion of the course of study would be out of place in 
the present exposition, still it may be remarked that 
the degree of difficulty in the course of study at various 
stages of the child's advancement is intimately con- 
nected with his progress and retention in the school. 



GRADING, CLASSIFICATION AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 17 

It would probably not be far from right to argue that 
the large amount of retardation in the lower and middle 
grades of the schools of Kansas City, Missouri, is closely 
correlated with the difficulty of the course in arithmetic. 
An examination of this course reveals difficulties al- 
together beyond the powers of many normal children 
in these grades. The children of the first grades are 
required to add and subtract and even to multiply and 
divide fractions. There are, of course, many children 
who can learn to do this even at the age of six or seven, 
yet a great number find it beyond their powers and 
must inevitably fall behind. That arithmetic is 
the stumbling block of many children all along the line 
is well known. In Providence, Rhode Island, number 
work is not studied except in an incidental way until 
the third grade, and yet even here, according to the 
statement of the late Superintendent W. H. Small, it 
is the cause of many failures. This leads one to ques- 
tion the wisdom of postponing all work in arithmetic 
until the third year of school life, lest the added amount 
of pressure necessary to learn the fundamental proces- 
ses in the third and fourth years should cause many 
pupils to fail who might have gradually mastered many 
of the simpler number ideas in the first two school 
years. Smith has well said that it is a mistake to 
exclude rational work in number from the first school 
years unless it is certain that there is something better 
for the child to do. 

It is probable then that work in arithmetic made 
too difficult at first or postponed too long, may in either 
case result in the retardation of pupils. Superintend- 
ent Ella Flagg Young points out that the desire of 
many first grade teachers to show wonderful results 
by having their pupils all read in second readers, may 
result in the neglect of pupils who might well do the 
normal work of the first grade. There can be no doubt 



18 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

that the bright pupil fetish has held sway in many of 
our schools to the disadvantage, as some think, of these 
superficially quick pupils and to the much greater 
disadvantage of the slower pupils, who in the B, C and 
D divisions have been neglected and allowed to come 
on as best they might. The former superintendent of 
public schools of Medford, Massachusetts, Mr. C. H. 
Morss, when asked the reasons why Medford made the 
best showing in Ayers' list of cities having different 
amounts of retardation in the schools, made the state- 
ment that one of the reasons was that no test in arith- 
metic was required during the first three years of school 
life. 

Even a glance at the courses of study of many cities 
will reveal the fact that both in reading and arithmetic 
in the lower grades and in nearly all the studies of the 
upper grades too much is being demanded of children 
in the way of knowledge acquirements. Coupled with 
this is the fact that in many places children are held 
back in the upper grades for failures in such studies as 
oral reading and geography. The writer has in mind 
a rather able girl who was compelled to repeat a year's 
work in an eighth grade because of failure in these two 
subjects, although she had done passing work in all 
the other subjects of the grade. It was later discovered 
that the girl's difficulty in reading was due to eye defect 
and that her apparent listlessness in the geography 
work was due to defect in hearing. The absurdity 
of such a demotion is evident when we consider that in 
the upper grades neither reading nor geography is a 
sequential subject, that is a study like arithmetic in 
which certain principles mastered at one stage are 
necessary to progress in the next. The chances are 
that the girl in question would have done much better 
work in these two subjects and in all others under a 
new teacher and with work on new material. Such 



GRADING, CLASSIFICATION AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 19 

failures are not rare in school systems where progress 
is rated by certain arbitrary standards. That school 
officials who stand for such conditions lack pedagogcial 
insight goes without saying. 

The fixed promotional examination set often by 
persons not in touch with the schools although it has 
long since been tabooed in school systems guided by 
common sense and intelligence, is still in force in a large 
number of cities and towns. Camden, New Jersey, 
which makes the worst showing in the matter of retar- 
dation in Ayers' list of cities has such examinations. 
This chance method of promoting children is bound 
to leave many worthy children branded with the mark 
of failure. There is little doubt in the minds of those 
who know the system of Regents' examinations of New 
York State, that these examinations are responsible 
for much of the retardation and elimination which 
Commissioner Draper has shown exists in the schools 
throughout that state. Mr. C. B. Gilbert when in 
charge of the schools of Rochester, New York, pointed 
out the evils of this system in a clear way, and Rochester 
was led to abolish the examinations in the elementary 
schools to the immense advantage of both pupils and 
teachers. 

A rational course of study adapted to the real 
ability of the normal pupils in the different grades is 
one of the prerequisites to any plan of grading and classi- 
fication or instruction that is to meet the needs of the 
individual pupils. The attempt to work out such a 
course was made in Chelsea, Massachusetts, under the 
late Superintendent B. C. Gregory. In that city the 
core of the course of study in all subjects consists of 
such principles and information as all normal pupils 
will be able to succeed in mastering. Facts and prin- 
ciples of value within the range of the normal pupil's 
comprehension are made fundamental in the course 



20 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

of study. The course is based on the theory that power 
gained through success in doing many less difficult 
but essential things is as valuable as the same power 
gained through failure to do difficult things. There 
is a truth of great educational value here that needs to 
be carefully worked out. 

The courses of study in our high and elementary 
schools, following the lead set by higher institutions, are 
based on the philosophy of failure. The spectre of 
failure looms up at every stage of the course, and a 
great many pupils soon realize that failure for them is 
inevitable. 

Such a philosophy may be and probably is the 
right one upon which to base the work of fairly mature 
students who are pursuing studies that are beyond 
those required for the common business of life. It is 
extremely doubtful if such a philosophy should form 
the basis of the work of children in the elementary 
schools. The great success in the ungraded rooms 
and in the special schools for backward children has 
been due to founding the work of such schools on the 
philosophy of success. In such schools each child is 
bound to succeed up to the full measure of his ability, 
and it is to this fact more than to any other that the 
remarkable progress of some of the pupils in these 
schools is due. There is no doubt that working on the 
same principle much can be done to arrange the course 
in the regular schools so that the attainment of success 
will be possible without constantly keeping in sight the 
black flag of failure. 

A rational course of study, the subjects of which 
are so selected and so co-ordinated that every normal 
child is fairly sure of passing through the eight elemen- 
tary grades without failing, is one of the prerequisites 
to the realization of school success among elementary 
school pupils. 



PROMOTION INTERVALS 21 



Chapter Two 
PROMOTION INTERVALS 

The frequency of regular promotions of pupils from 
class to class has been a topic of earnest discussion among 
school men in the United States during the past thirty 
or thirty-five years. The war has been against the 
yearly promotion interval which prevailed everywhere 
in this country before 1870 and which prevails to-day 
in a large number of cities and towns in the different 
states. The yearly interval prevails also in England 
and in Germany. It has, however, caused little dis- 
cussion in those countries. 

We shall discuss briefly the advantages and dis- 
advantages of the yearly interval and then follow with 
a discussion of the half-yearly intervals and also of the 
still shorter intervals of promotion. 

Yearly Promotions — Advantages 

1. The chief advantage of the yearly interval 
comes from the ease with which it fits the school organ- 
ization. The course of study is graded by years and 
it is natural that the pupils should begin the work of 
a grade in September and complete it the following 
June. The practice is probably inherited from the 
colleges which have always followed the yearly interval 
of classification. 

2. The yearly interval allows the pupils to remain 
with the same teacher a full year, thus enabling the 
teacher to become acquainted with the pupils and to 
adjust the work to their individual needs. 



22 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

3. It enables the teacher in the higher grades to 
have one class in the room instead of the two or more 
which are necessary under the half-yearly or shorter 
interval, thus allowing for quiet study periods, during 
which time the teacher may work with individual 
pupils. 

Yearly Plan — Disadvantages 

The chief disadvantage connected with the yearly 
interval is its lack of flexibility. Under it, as ordinarily 
administered, no provision is made for the superior 
pupil to progress rapidly without skipping a whole 
year of work, a leap too great for any except the very 
few ; nor is any provision made for the slow or retarded 
pupil, who, if he fails, must lose a whole year, repeating 
a considerable amount of work that he has already done. 

These objections are valid so long as the yearly 
plan of promotions is unmodified and unsupplemented. 
It may be well to state here that many who hold to 
the yearly interval believe, and with some justification, 
that there is something more to the educative process 
than hurrying rapidly through a course of study. 
They hold that the rapid transit plans of grading tend 
in the main to superficial work and that the course of 
study should be both broad and deep as well as long. 

In this stand they are supported by the great 
majority of school men in England and in Germany. 

It is a fact of some significance that the three 
cities which show the least amount of retardation and 
elimination in Ayers' study have yearly promotions, 
while Camden has half-yearly promotions and stands 
at the foot of the list. 

Furthermore the six cities which Ayers regards as 
the most efficient in the matter of retaining their pupils 
through the elementary school course all have the yearly 
interval. 



PROMOTION INTERVALS 23 

It would hardly seem safe to infer as does Ayers 
that "the first step toward mitigating the bad effects 
of failure in the schools is the system of half-yearly 
promotion. " 

The Half Year Interval 

In 1891, at the request of the United States Com- 
missioner of Education, Dr. E. E. White made an elab- 
orate study of promotions and examinations in graded 
schools. Considerable space is devoted in this study 
to a comparison of the different class intervals. The 
conclusion is that the half year interval seems to pos- 
sess the most advantages and the fewest disadvantages, 
especially for the elementary grades, with the exception 
of, perhaps, the first and second grades in which a shorter 
interval may be desirable. 

The half year interval is sufficiently short to facil- 
itate the promotion of individuals and sufficiently long 
to prevent a "too frequent readjustment of class work. " 
It also presents the most favorable times for transfers 
and reclassification of pupils; the beginning and the 
middle of the school year. 

As early as the middle of the year the upper classes 
of the elementary schools begin to be thinned out by 
the withdrawal of pupils for various reasons. The mid- 
year promotions help to keep the proper quota of pupils 
in these upper grades. It also makes room in the first 
primary grades for the entrance of beginners at the 
mid-year. 

It facilitates also the promotion of many pupils 
who although able to skip a half year of work would 
not be able to skip that of a whole year. Again it 
obliges pupils who have been demoted to repeat only 
a half year of work. 

The strongest objection to the half year interval 
is, according to Dr. White, the fact that it is not feasible 



24 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

in the high schools of small cities and towns where the 
number of pupils in the different years is not large 
enough to make division of classes economical. Another 
strong objection to the half-year plan is the fact that 
it makes necessary two divisions in nearly all school 
classes. There is recitation by one division and study 
by the other throughout the day. Again and again 
in his different addresses Dr. Harris insists that this 
plan cultivates in the child the power of sustained 
attention. The pupil learns to study under distracting 
conditions. This idea is strongly affirmed in a recent 
study of half-yearly promotion made by Mr. W. W. 
Chalmers which appears in the school report of Toledo, 
Ohio, for 1903. 

In the same report, however, he quotes a prominent 
school official's opinion to the effect that under the 
half-year plan the pupils of the division not reciting 
learn a great deal from listening to the recitation of the 
pupils in the other division. This latter opinion would 
seem to be supported by the tradition that in the dis- 
trict school the younger pupils learned much from 
hearing the older pupils recite. 

Recent studies in Germany bear out the assertion 
that the best thought work is not done under the dis- 
tracting conditions of the classroom. Quiet study, 
a thing almost unknown under the two division plan, 
would seem so far as human experience goes to be a 
desirable thing to be cultivated in the schools. 

Concerning the half-year interval Dexter makes 
the following statement: "Some schools, though 
altogether too few, are already trying the plan of semi- 
annual promotions with the greatest success, except 
for its strain upon the administrative machinery." 
Such a statement concerning the success of the half-year 
plan it is impossible to verify. 



PROMOTION INTERVALS 25 

The Term Interval 

The term interval by which pupils are reclassified 
every third of a year or oftener, makes closer grading 
possible than either the year or half-year interval. 

It is claimed that it almost entirely removes dis- 
couragement from pupils who fail, since they have only 
to repeat the work of a third of a year. It furnishes 
the most natural division of pupils into bright, mediocre, 
and dull. 

In the matter of defects it calls for more school 
machinery in the way of program-making and of keep- 
ing pupils who are at their seats profitably employed. 
It tends to bring together an accumulation of dull 
pupils in the lowest third of the class where they are 
likely to stay, since the teacher is chiefly concerned 
with pupils who can move forward. 

Usually it necessitates frequent changes of teachers ; 
and finally, it makes promotion, rather than honest, 
thorough work, the aim of the school. 

In concluding this brief discussion of promotion 
intervals it may be said that we have as yet in educa- 
tion very little, if any, evidence to show the real value 
of the short promotion intervals. Scientific studies 
are much needed here. Mere opinion has prevailed 
too long. 



26 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Three 
PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 

Several of the most important plans of grading 
and promotion in the United States are here presented. 
Since the short interval, or St. Louis plan, is really 
the parent of all plans of grading in this country it will 
be first considered. It will be followed by the Shearer, 
or Elizabeth plan, which is only a modification of the 
St. Louis plan. The concentric plan, the North Den- 
ver plan, and the group system will then be described, 
followed by the well-known Cambridge double-track 
plan and its modifications, the Odebolt and Le Mars, 
Iowa, plans. The Portland, Oregon, plan is briefly 
treated. Two German plans will then be explained: 
those of Charlottenburg and of Mannheim, the latter 
plan having been widely adopted in Germany. 

After a brief introduction, presenting the views 
of superintendents and normal school principals as to 
whether the all-class method of instruction is satis- 
factory as a means of reaching the individual pupils, 
an exposition is given of the three best known plans 
of individual instruction, the Pueblo, Batavia, and 
Newton plans, the section closing with a suggestive 
plan combining the good points of several that have 
been presented. 

It may be added that there are other plans of 
grading and of instruction that have attained consider- 
able prominence, but they are so similar in their main 
features to the plans here presented that it has not 
been deemed worth while to present them. 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 27 

The St. Louis Plan 

The first comprehensive discussion of the subject 
of a plan to introduce flexibility into the classification 
of the graded school system was made by the late Dr. 
William T. Harris in his reports as superintendent of 
the St. Louis public schools, during 1868-69 and 1871- 
72-73. In these discussions he explained the short 
interval system of promotion as carried out in St. 
Louis, by which plan pupils, in the lowest grades at 
least, were to be promoted every five or six weeks 
during the school year. These three reports aroused 
widespread discussion among school superintendents 
throughout the country, some opposing, some support- 
ing. In the report for 1873-74, Dr. Harris entered into 
a still more detailed discussion of his plan, quoting at 
length the opinions of several prominent school officials 
who favored the plan, and also of those who were 
opposed to the short interval system. 

As all the short interval plans are in a way modi- 
fications and adaptations of the St. Louis plan it will 
be well to discuss its chief features at some length. 

1. Pupils differ greatly in their ability to do the 
work of the grades. A pupil entering the first grade 
at eight years of age can make nearly double the prog- 
ress that can be made by a pupil of five years of age. 
The bright, nervous child will be able to advance more 
rapidly than the one who is dull and stolid. 

2. Unless the school provides for these different 
rates of progress by frequent reclassification, the 
bright pupils not being held up to work of which they 
are capable will acquire habits of carelessness and list- 
lessness, while the dull pupils being compelled to move 
forward at a too rapid pace, will become demoralized 
and disheartened. 

3. Furthermore, the attendance of some pupils 
is far more regular than that of others, absence being 



28 



SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



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PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 29 

due to sickness, necessity of working for a living, and 
other causes. 

4. Because certain pupils are able to move for- 
ward over the course of study at a more rapid rate 
than their mates and because large numbers of pupils 
in the upper grades are constantly leaving, some pro- 
vision must be made to restore the proper quota of 
pupils to the teachers of the upper grades. This can 
be done, according to Dr. Harris's plan, by a reclassi- 
fication and promotion of pupils in the different grades 
every ten weeks "or once in a quarter or term." 

5. Frequent promotion is not to be made by 
classes, the few best ones in each section or class are 
to be united with the class or section above. Such a 
promotion through the different grades will result in 
bringing together in each section or class pupils of fair, 
average, and poor ability, together with a few of supe- 
rior ability who at the time of promotion will stand at 
the foot of the class. "For a while, " writes Dr. Harris, 
"the average and fair scholars in the class will have the 
stimulus of being the best in the class. The poor ones 
will rank as 'middling' and the new pupils will begin 
as the poorest and slowly work up toward the top of 
the class. The advantage to the self-respect of the 
slower pupils which comes from standing in relation 
to their classmates as abler and better informed is not 
to be lost sight of." 

6. Under this plan, where in a large building there 
are several large sections of the first or second grade, 
the bright pupils would change teachers several times 
in one year, but in the upper grades with their small 
enrollment, the bright pupils would be advanced from 
division to division, according to Dr. Harris, and still 
remain one year or more under each teacher. 

7. By this plan of promoting the few best, rather 
than of demoting the few poorest, it is claimed that the 



30 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

maximum of encouragement is attained since those 
remaining in the section after each special promotion 
do not feel that they have been "left back." 

8. If promotions to the high school are made only 
once a year, the graded schools will be obliged to so 
arrange their upper classes as to conform to this order 
of things and the other grades from the first on must 
follow the same plan. 

A class finishing the work of one grade before the 
end of the year would not be able to begin the work of 
the next grade until the beginning of the new school 
year. "The utter want of elasticity in the classifica- 
tion of the upper grades of the district schools," to 
quote Dr. Harris, "arising from the lack of frequent 
promotions to the high school, works violence contin- 
ually to the interests of one-third of the pupils. All 
those delayed through sickness, the necessities of 
poverty, or inactive temperaments, either fall back a 
whole year, or else in a vain endeavor to make up their 
deficiency overwork themselves or get discouraged." 
In considering this plan one must bear in mind that it 
was devised by Dr. Harris as a means of filling up the 
upper grades of the St. Louis schools which were con- 
stantly being depleted by the withdrawal of pupils. 
It was primarily a plan for hurrying along the bright 
pupils. "The slow pupils," to use Dr. Harris' own 
words, "advance only when ready." It is easy to see 
that under such a plan the bright pupils would be the 
objective point of the teacher's exertions and the slow 
pupils would be allowed to drift along. There is 
reason to believe that even a slow pupil after being 
passed again and again by his more rapid-minded 
mates would at last wake up to the fact that he was 
"stranded" in the stream of progress. 

It is maintained that the only disadvantages 
incident to the plan are connected with the frequent 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 31 

changing of teachers. This objection is dismissed by- 
asking the question if it is desirable to keep a pupil 
back in his studies in order that he may recite for a 
long time with one teacher. This answer is hardly- 
fair since there are ways of keeping pupils with a 
teacher, for a year at least, while still allowing them 
to make rapid progress. 

Yearly promotions to the high school are said to 
be detrimental to the interests of at least one-third. 
Yet there are school systems that have yearly promo- 
tions and that make little of " sectioning" the lower 
grades, where for five years the percentage of pupils 
failing to earn promotion from grade to grade in the 
elementary schools, has averaged each year less than 
seven. The best evidence of the efficiency of the 
plan would be from the records of the public schools 
of St. Louis. It is, however, a significant fact that 
after all these years with the short interval of grading, 
both in St. Louis and Kansas City, there exists a large 
amount of retardation in their schools. 

The Elizabeth Plan 

The Shearer, or Elizabeth plan, of grading was 
developed and perhaps best carried out during Mr. 
Shearer's superintendency at New Castle, Pennsyl- 
vania. The name, Elizabeth plan, came about from 
the fact that after Mr. Shearer left New Castle to 
assume the superintendency of the schools of Elizabeth, 
New Jersey, he put the plan into operation in the 
schools of the latter city, but the plan was never carried 
out in the latter place in any thorough-going manner 
and is not in use there at the present time. Under the 
plan each of the eight grades is divided into three or 
four sections according to the abilities of the pupils. 
Each of these sections is allowed to do just as much work 
and go forward just as fast as it is able. There are no 



32 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

promotional examinations and as soon as a pupil shows 
ability to do the work of a higher section he is advanced 
to that section. Progress is gauged by the work in 
the sequential studies, reading and number in the lower 
grade, language and arithmetic in the higher grades. 
The advantages of the plan are stated in Super- 
intendent Shearer's own words. 1 

"1. It makes possible a frequent reclassification which is the only 
means of preventing the sacrifice of the pupils of the graded school. 
When a pupil gets ahead or behind his own class, he is at once moved 
a short distance forward or back, where he can work to advantage. 

"2. An accurate grading of pupils, according to ability, into classes 
of from ten to fifteen, instead of herding them in classes of fifty, fur- 
nishes a practicable means of reaching each individual. 

"3. Every pupil is touched with hope and with enthusiasm; for 
the progress of each one depends entirely on ability and application. 

"4. Forty-two per cent, of the pupils in the highest grammar grade, 
having finished the work of that grade by January, at once started 
upon the work of the high school, and will be able to graduate in three 
years instead of four years. 

"5. By the end of the first year's trial of the plan, forty-five per 
cent, of the pupils below the high school had gained from one-fourth 
to two-thirds of a year's work, without any urging on the part of the 
teachers." 

The writer, after an experience of several years in 
schools graded under the plan, would make the follow- 
ing criticism of it: 

1. It is not essentially different from the plan 
advocated and carried out by Dr. William T. Harris 
in the St. Louis schools from 1871 to 1873. 

2. It is essentially a plan for enabling bright and 
often superficial pupils to move rapidly through the 
grades. 

3. Because of this aim, the teacher puts her 
energies on the best pupils. The slow and dull pupils 
do not receive the attention that they need. 

4. The number of divisions dissipate the energies 
of the teacher and poorer work is the result. 



1 Discussion N. E. A. Proceedings, 1895, pp. 408-9. 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 33 

5. Since there are so many divisions a large 
number of pupils are engaged for long periods in seat 
work, or "busy work," which is often rendered worse 
than valueless because the teacher has no time to 
supervise it properly. Two sections are all that any 
teacher should be obliged to look after. 

This plan has been widely advertised as the result 
of an article, "The Lock-Step of the Public Schools," 2 
written by Mr. Shearer in 1897 for the Atlantic Month- 
ly and widely commented on by the press of the coun- 
try. It is also fully explained in a book, "The Grading 
of Schools," written by Mr. Shearer. The above- 
mentioned article and Mr. Shearer's book, together 
with many newspaper articles and addresses by him, 
have done a great amount of good in calling attention 
to the need of a better organization of the graded 
schools in order to adjust them to the needs of the 
individual child. 

The Santa Barbara Concentric Plan 

According to this plan children in each grade are 
divided into three groups so that each grade has A, B 
and C sections. "The sections do the work of the 
grade concentrically." The extent of the work so far 
as the fundamental principles are concerned is the 
same for each of the sections, but the B pupils do more 
extensive work than the C pupils and the A more 
than the B pupils. In arithmetic, for example, the 
C pupils would take only such work under a certain 
topic as would enable them to advance to a consider- 
ation of the succeeding topic; the B pupils would do 
more difficult work while the A pupils would approach 
the subject in a more thorough manner, learning, per- 
haps, short processes and methods of proof, things 
beyond the powers of a great many pupils. 

2 Atlantic Monthly, Vol. LXXIX, pp. 749-757. 



34 SCHOOL 



ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 




PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 35 

When the A pupils of any grade are ready for the 
work of the next grade they are transferred to the C 
section of that grade, while there may be constant 
transfer from section to section within the grade. 

This plan was carried out in the schools of Santa 
Barbara, California. Mrs. Burk 3 has made a very 
interesting study of the results of the plan, showing 
the number of sections covered by 835 children during 
a school year. 

No. of Sections... 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 
No. of Children... 28 58 195 369 74 75 30 1 5 

From this record it can be seen that if we adopt 
three sections of work a year as the normal, that 34% 
of the children made slow progress, 44% normal 
progress, while 22% made rapid progress. In this 
study it is shown that 35% of the slow children were 
absent over 20 days as compared with 33% of the 
normal and 23% of the fast children. It is also shown 
that in the first three grades 47% of the children were 
slow, 36% normal, and 17% fast. In the fourth and 
fifth grades 16% were slow, 53% normal, and 31% 
fast, while in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades 30% 
were slow, 50% normal, and 20% fast. This study 
would seem to indicate the truth of what a great many 
school men believe, that the course of study for the 
first two or three grades and that of the higher grades 
is too difficult for a large number of children. The 
study also takes the scientific point of view, empha- 
sizing the fact that "the normal child of one year is 
not the normal child of another year. " Other studies 
along the same line would do much to counteract the 
evil which many studies in school retardation are now 
doing by over-emphasizing the over-age problem of 



'Educational Review, Vol. 19, p. 299. 



36 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

the schools. The over-age problem in the school is 
not to be solved by lowering the compulsory attend- 
ance age from seven to six as Superintendent Maxwell 
of New York City seems to think. School attendance 
in the German cities where the compulsory age is 
six makes this evident. The problem of retardation 
and elimination is as great a problem with them as 
with us. The studies in retardation have doubtless 
done much to direct attention in the right way but 
they are lame and halt in many respects. They fail 
to take account of local conditions in their comparative 
estimates, judging by the same standard the city in 
which the children enter school at five years and 
another city in which the larger part of the children 
do not enter school until after they have reached the 
age of six. 

Cambridge Plan 

The plan of grading that has been most often 
described in books on school administration is the so- 
called Cambridge double-track plan. This plan was 
evolved and was in use in the schools of Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, for many years. It has now been 
replaced by a somewhat different plan. 4 It was applied 
only to the last six years of a nine-year course of study. 
Under this plan, running parallel with the regular 
six-year course, was a shorter course by which abler 
pupils might accomplish the regular work in four years. 
These four sections of the work were called the A, B, 
C, and D grades. A pupil entering and completing 
this course, saved two years in the nine-year course. 
There were, as can be readily seen from the accompany- 
ing diagram, two other ways of completing the course 
with a saving of one year in each case. A pupil could 



♦ See Journal of Education, April 4, 1912, for description of new 
Cambridge Plan and also of the Maiden, Massachusetts, Plan. 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 



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38 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

complete the A and B grades in two years and then at 
the close of the year be promoted to the regular seventh 
grade, thus completing the course in eight years; or 
he might save a year by progressing regularly through 
the fourth, fifth and sixth grades and then, by being 
transferred to C grade, complete the work in the two 
succeeding years. The plan was carried out in this 
way. All the pupils began the fourth grade on, as it 
were, the same line of attainment. As soon as possible 
the pupils were separated into a slow and fast division, 
the slow division constituting the regular fourth grade 
and the fast division the A grade. The pupils of the 
A grade did the work of the fourth grade and about 
one-half the work of the fifth grade. The next year 
the slower pupils constituted the regular fifth grade 
while the faster pupils were promoted to the lower 
division of the sixth grade and during the year accom- 
plished the remaining half of the fifth grade work and 
also the work of the sixth grade, so that at the end of 
the year they were abreast of the regular sixth-grade 
pupils. In a similar manner the brighter pupils of 
grade six were promoted to grade C, and by doing a 
half-year of extra work each of the two succeeding 
years, finished the course in grade nine with the pupils 
who began the sixth grade three years previous. 

Under the plan there must be two divisions or 
classes for at least the major part of the time in the 
fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth grades. The regular 
fifth and eighth grades will be composed of the slower 
pupils and will work as one class. 

Objections to Cambridge Plan 

The following objections to the plan are presented 
by a Cambridge teacher: 

1. "In order to make fast or skipping classes 
large enough to make them worth while, it is necessary 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 39 

to place in them children who cannot do the work as 
it should be done. 

2. "The children in these skipping classes go over 
the work so rapidly that they do not get the thorough, 
systematic drill that they need. 

3. "The selection of the best pupils from the 
regular classes leaves an accumulation of slowness and 
the teachers complain of the dullness of their classes. 

4. "It allows for promotion only once a year." 
There seems, however, to be no good reason why in 
buildings employing sixteen or more teachers this plan 
could not be fitted to the half-year interval plan of 
promotions. This could be done by dividing the 
course of study into two parallel courses: a longer one 
of 18 sections and a shorter one of 12 sections. The 
transfer point would occur just twice as often as under 
the yearly plan. 

Le Mars, Iowa, Plan 

The Le Mars plan is the Cambridge plan applied 
to the nine grades instead of only the last six grades. 

The courses of study are made out covering the 
same amount of ground but differing in the time re- 
quired to do the work; one requiring six years, the other 
nine years. These courses run parallel with each 
other and are so arranged that they articulate with each 
other at different points along the line. Classes are 
so graded that they come together at different points, 
thus allowing for a transfer of pupils in either direction 
without a loss of any portion of the course of study. 
The short course of six years is divided into three two- 
year cycles and the long course of nine years into three 
three-year cycles. The end of each cycle is a transfer 
point. The grades of the short course are designated 
by the letters A to F; those of the long course, by the 
figures one to nine. The plan is worked out in this 



40 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



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PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 41 

way: Grades 1 and A begin work together, but soon 
after beginning the work of the year the two grades 
or divisions begin to diverge in their work so that at 
the end of the year grade one has completed one-ninth 
of the work, and grade A one-sixth of the work. At 
the beginning of the second year the pupils of grade 
one are promoted to grade two, while the pupils of 
grade A are promoted to grade B and begin work in 
the room with the pupils constituting grade three. 
The early part of the work of grade B is more elemen- 
tary than that of grade three, but grade B with its 
abler pupils finally overtakes grade three so that at 
the end of the year the pupils of the two grades have 
finished one-third of the course. 

Results of the Plan 

In June, 1908, 60% of all the pupils in the Le 
Mars schools were promoted to the nine-year course; 
40% to the six-year course; 48% of the promotions 
were transfers. 

In Odebolt, Iowa, where this plan is in use, at 
the end of the sixth year 54% of the pupils were in the 
nine-year course and 46% in the six-year course. 

The record of promotions made in the Odebolt 
schools for the four years ending June, 1908, is as 
follows : 

Regular promotions in the six-year course. . . 34.5% 

Regular promotions in the nine-year course. . 28.3% 

Transfer promotions 35.5% 

Non-promotions 1-7% 

For this period 29% of the pupils worked alto- 
gether in the six-year course; 22% altogether in the 
nine-year course, while 49% worked in both courses. 
The lines in the diagram represent the different actual 
courses as the resultant of the two parallel courses 



42 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

articulating. Course 1 is the regular nine-year course. 
Course 2 takes a pupil through grades 1, 2, 3, C, D, 
E, F, completing the work in seven years. Course 3 
carries pupils through grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, E and F, 
completing the work in eight years. Course 4 carries 
one through grades 1, 2, 3, C, D, 7, 8 and 9 in eight 
years. Courses 5 and 6 are each seven years in length. 
Course 7, eight years, and Course 8 is the regular six- 
year course. Thus, besides the two regular courses 
there are three seven-year courses and three eight-year 
courses. Under the plan there are four kinds of pro- 
motions: the "regular" promotion by which a pupil 
is passed from one grade to the next higher in the same 
course, the "transfer" promotion by which a pupil is 
placed in the next higher grade of the opposite course 
occur at the end of the year. The "advanced transfer " 
promotion by which a pupil is transferred, as 4 to D, 
out of course to the next higher grade of the opposite 
course (such a transfer necessitates skipping certain 
portions of the work) and the "retarded transfer" 
promotion by which a pupil is placed in a lower course 
and given the benefit of a review before taking up 
advanced work (but without loss of time), may occur 
at any time during the year. 

The intervals that separate the different classes 
may be seen from the following table: 

Table of Intervals Between Classes 

Between Grades. Time. Interval. 

4 and C, Beginning of year, Zero 

4 and C, End of 3rd month, 4 weeks 

4 and C, Middle of year, 6 weeks 

4 and C, End of 6th month, 8 weeks 

4 and C or 5 and C, End of year, 12 weeks 

5 and C or 6 and D, Beginning of year, 12 weeks 

6 and D, End of 3rd month, 8 weeks 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 43 

Between Grades. Time. Interval. 

6 and D, Middle of year, 6 weeks 

6 and D, End of 6th month, 4 weeks 

6 and D, End of year, Zero 

The table shows that the interval between two 
classes throughout the course is never more than twelve 
weeks and for most of the time only four to eight weeks. 
Thus opportunity is afforded frequently to adapt the 
courses to the needs of both the slow and the quick 
child. The pupil of superior ability is not compelled 
to mark time. The pupils of slower development are 
not compelled to hurry over the work. The course 
is pliant at all points. The pupil is promoted on the 
estimate of the teacher and as soon as the work at any 
point in the course becomes too hard or too easy for 
a pupil, such pupil is reclassified. 

Portland, Oregon, Plan 

A unique system of classification and promotion 
has been in use in Portland, Oregon, since 1897. It 
superseded the orthodox eight-grade system with semi- 
annual promotions. 

The course of study is divided into fifty-four parts 
covering in time eighteen terms of five months each. 
Promotions take place at the close of each term. A 
unit composed of three terms is called a cycle. While 
classes are permitted to go forward at the rate best 
suited to their powers, the two standard rates are three 
parts per term for the slower divisions and four parts 
per term for the faster divisions. 

The normal class interval at the beginning of a 
cycle is three parts of the course of study measured not 
in time but in work. In large schools the class interval 
is often only two parts of the course. Sometimes in 
the lower classes only one part of the course separates 
the classes. 



44 



SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



fcTH 
CYCLE 



5TH 
CYCLE 




PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 45 

At the beginning of a cycle such pupils as have 
reached the same point of progress in the course of 
study are classified in two divisions; the first division 
is to advance at the rate of four parts per term while 
the second division is advancing three. It can be 
readily seen that by going forward at the same rate, 
at the end of three terms, the first division will have 
covered twelve parts of the course and the second di- 
vision will have covered nine. At the end of each cycle 
each first division will have reached the same point 
in the course as the second division next above. Again 
a reclassification will take place and the first and second 
divisions will begin another cycle and so on in like 
manner until the fifty-four parts of the course are 
completed. The pupils who remain in the first division 
throughout the course will complete the work in seven 
years. Those who remain in the second division 
throughout will complete it in nine years. 

North Denver Plan of Instruction 

Superintendent James H. Van Sickle, now of 
Springfield, Massachusetts, devised a plan while super- 
intendent of the North Side Schools of Denver, Colo., 
for producing "greater flexibility in class management, 
especially in the grammar grades." He contended 
that "the short and varying intervals in the primary 
grades together with the half-year interval in the upper 
grades were sufficient for the ordinary class organiza- 
tion of the school. The finer adjustments in individual 
cases should be made within the class. No mechanical 
plan of grading can adjust itself to the individual 
differences of the pupils." "The child," says Van 
Sickle, "who is strong in arithmetic may show less 
strength in language, while another, good in both, may 
need more time in geography or history, and so on in 
great variety, — while the average strength of the 



46 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

individuals composing the class may not vary greatly. 
No matter how carefully we grade, we find these 
differences. " 

The ordinary recitation is ill adjusted to the vary- 
ing gifts of the pupils; if the bright pupils' ability is 
made the standard of class speed, the average and the 
slow are hurried on too fast; and bright pupils lose 
interest and develop wasteful habits, if the standard 
is adjusted to the abilities of the average and slow pupil. 

"Is it not possible," says Dr. Van Sickle, "to 
retain the manifest advantages of the class recitation, 
so often set forth by Dr. Harris, and yet as the recita- 
tion progresses allow individual pupils to drop out 
and do other work more profitable than simply main- 
taining the semblance of attention?" 

Aims of the Plan 

1. To secure a more profitable use of the pupils' 
time. 

2. To train each pupil to use his own judgment 
by co-operating with the teacher in deciding what he 
had better do at a given time. 

3. To lead the pupil in this way to put forth 
more willing effort in the mastery of the less agreeable 
studies, such effort aiding to keep the pupil up to the 
level of the class. 

4. To secure more study time in school and thus 
do away with the need of keeping after school ("stay- 
ing after school," says Van Sickle, "is quite a different 
matter"). 

5. To enable the pupil to demonstrate his fitness 
for special promotion. 

6. To bring about conditions that will awaken 
enthusiasm for improvement in efficiency and in knowl- 
edge, by emphasizing the fact that it is individual 
power, the excelling of one's self, that counts, rather 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 47 

than class marks, special seats, or the other school 
rewards given for excelling one's mates. 

The main aim is thus to develop individual initi- 
ative and responsibility by leading the pupil to decide 
for himself when he is ready to do certain work or 
when he has finished such work, and to develop the 
will power necessary to do a piece of work alone. Under 
the usual plan of organization the teacher makes all 
the decisions; the pupils have no opportunity to 
develop independence of power that comes through 
making choices of real value. It is for this reason that 
the schoolroom is often inferior in its educational 
power to the athletic field; in the schoolroom the pupil 
is too often being developed; on the athletic field he is 
developing himself. It is the self-activity — the sub- 
jective power— that counts for most in education. 

Procedure in Carrying Out the Plan 

There is a certain minimum requirement in all 
studies to which all pupils are held. 

While the pupils who need all the assigned time 
to complete a particular study are engaged upon such 
study, the more capable pupils "are, by process of 
natural selection, detaching themselves temporarily 
from the class in order to work on some study in which 
they are weak, or for broader or deeper study of some 
topic by means of reference books, gathering illustrative 
material, or following out some line of interest approved 
by the teacher." (In North Denver each room was 
provided with a carefully-selected reference library 
of from fifty to seventy-five volumes.) 

Those pupils who have been excused from the 
recitation may at any time be called back to the 
recitation to help in the clearing up of some point for 
the other pupils, being in this way at all times held 
responsible for the work that is being done. In case 



48 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

such a pupil fails to respond at any time either in 
advance or review work, such failure is held as indic- 
ative of the fact that he has not attained such a degree 
of efficiency in the minimum requirement as to permit 
of a continuance of his release from the regular class 
work; this release is therefore canceled. Such experi- 
ences tend to stimulate the pupil to make his mastery 
of the subject more permanent, not for the day only. 
In this way the pupil's judgment is developed. 

"A pupil may at any given time find the minimum 
in arithmetic or geography all that he can do while 
at the same time he is making a fuller study than some 
of the rest, of a period in history." For this privilege 
he is willing to work more energetically in the subjects 
in which he is less able. It is easy to see that here 
there is an opportunity for the school to foster in a 
systematic way the bent of individual pupils. 

Individual pupils may be called upon from time 
to time to give the results of their extra reading or 
research to the class. In this way may be cultivated 
the desire for social service. The pupil gives the 
results of his work to the class. He is making himself 
socially useful. "His success awakens a desire in 
others to be able to make creditable contributions of 
the same kind; thus all are stimulated to do independ- 
ent work in spare moments and to find spare moments 
for independent work. They learn how to find things 
in books. This is perhaps the most useful accomplish- 
ment that we can cultivate in a child. Books must 
always be his chief reliance after leaving school." 

Characteristics of the Plan 

It is not a rapid transit plan for hurrying pupils 
over the course of study. 

The class is ready "with an even front" to attack 
each new lesson. 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 49 

The new lesson is first developed with the class 
as a whole. 

One pupil does not travel faster than another, 
but he may get more. The road is wide as well as 
long. "It is not so much to the pupil's advantage to 
go through the grades rapidly as to get all that he is 
capable of getting while he is going through." 

"The plan tends to even up the pupil in the vari- 
ous studies, since making pleasant excursions in favor- 
ite studies is conditioned upon fair attainment in all 
studies." 

The additional study time makes less home work 
necessary. 

The teacher has more time to devote to the less 
able pupils without injury to the others. 

It tends to develop the latent powers of the pupils. 

It gives the teacher an opportunity to judge of the 
fitness of individual pupils for promotion to the next 
higher class. 

It thus gives opportunity for really able pupils to 
be promoted whenever they show the requisite ability. 

In a class that is well graded every pupil will find 
some study from which he may be released now and 
then. The plan is thus a source of encouragement to 
all. It stimulates steady growth in the pupils. The 
motives held out of spending one's time profitably, 
of increasing one's store of knowledge, of being socially 
useful, and of gaining the power of self-mastery, are 
of the greatest value. 

The plan demands of the teacher more thought 
and a somewhat broader preparation than the old plan. 
But there is compensation for the extra expenditure. 
The "active spirits" in the room are kept profitably 
employed with self-imposed tasks. The spirit of work 
thus gained solves nearly all problems of discipline. 
The plan requires that the pupils be given more free- 



50 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

dom than is customary but, as Van Sickle points out, 
the seeming perfect order of the old-time schoolroom 
with everybody sitting up straight, no whispering, no 
moving about, is not indicative of a good school if 
everything is done on the initiative of the teacher. 

Below are some of the results as shown by the 
work for one year: 

"In the eighth-grade class this year, 4 have 
finished, or will have finished, the eight-year course 
in less than six years, 7 in six and one-half years, 21 
in seven years, and 24 in seven and one-half years. 
Able pupils are not kept marking time, but are advanced 
whenever they show the requisite strength. The 
half-year interval does not prevent this. The year 
interval would add materially to the difficulty. 

"In the two buildings in which this plan of class 
management has been systematically tried there has 
been apparently greater attention to individual needs 
than in the other buildings. One hundred and sixty- 
one pupils finish the work of the eighth grade this year 
in three buildings. In one building, 573^% finish in 
eight years or less; in another, 623/2%, and in the third, 
the one pursuing the ordinary plan, only 37J/£%." 

This would seem to indicate that the plan tends 
to conserve the interests of individual pupils. There 
are many points of excellence in the plan that can be 
used under any system of classification. 

The greatest difficulty that the writer has experi- 
enced in getting teachers to apply the main principles 
of the plan to their work lies in the fact that they have 
been trained in the normal school to think that all 
pupils must be engaged upon the same task at the same 
time. They cannot see that there can be class unity 
without class uniformity. The principles of the North 
Denver plan tend to do away with class uniformity 
and to promote class unity. Under it the ambitious 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 51 

pupil is given an opportunity to add to his spiritual 
wealth and while so doing to cultivate initiative and 
responsibility, powers that the modern school is 
charged with failing to develop. 

The Group System, which will be described in 
the next chapter, is in reality only a modification and 
extension of the fundamental idea of the North Denver 
plan. 

The Group System 

The Group System of teaching has been given more 
or less attention by school men and has attained success 
in the schools of New York City. According to one 
writer the Group System has certain points of resem- 
blance to the Elizabeth and to the Batavia plans. It 
is asserted that while in no sense is it the plan of the 
old ungraded school yet it does apply to the modern 
school all that is good in the ungraded plan. It pro- 
vides a different rate of progress for children of differ- 
ent abilities. It succeeds according to certain of its 
advocates by placing emphasis on the old-fashioned 
drill by translating the humdrum of this drill into 
independent study. The aim is to cover the work 
assigned in such a manner that every child has a chance 
to do the work well. The essential aim is not the rapid 
advancement of the bright pupils, although by its use 
a bright child may advance as rapidly as he can cover 
the work with thoroughness. Its real merit lies in 
the fact that it enables the slow and backward pupil 
to keep up with his grade. 

The plan may be carried out in two ways: on the 
basis of the Constant Group or on the basis of the 
Shifting Group. 

Under the Constant Group the pupils of the class 
are formalty divided into groups to be maintained for 
a definite period. The promotions from group to 



52 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

group occur only at stated times. The pupils are classi- 
fied according to their ability to advance. There are 
usually two or three groups. This method of grouping 
requires divisions in nearly all the subjects of the 
course of study and the pupils in the most advanced 
group may pass to a higher grade, although they may 
be unprepared in certain subjects. 

Under the Shifting Group, the children are divided 
according to their power really to grasp a new point. 
"Thus the teacher may have as many groups as she 
deems advisable in as many subjects as she chooses. 
The pupils may not be grouped in all subjects nor is 
the membership of the groups constant. Pupils may 
be promoted from group to group any time. There 
may be two groups in reading for example, and three 
in arithmetic or language. Occasionally, bright pupils 
may be promoted to a higher grade but this is not the 
main aim of the Shifting Group. The aim is to make 
the bright child do thorough, careful work and to 
bring the slow child up to the grade standard, while 
the aim of the Constant Group is to advance the bright 
child as rapidly as possible." 

The advantages of the Constant Group may be 
summed up as follows: 

1. It is economical. The bright pupil goes along 
from grade to grade as fast as he is able, thus making 
room in the lower grades for the admission of new 
pupils, thus lessening the demand for more rooms and 
more teachers. 

2. The bright pupil, not being compelled to mark 
time will retain a greater interest in his work. 

3. Standards of scholarship will thus be improved 
and the membership in the higher grades will be 
increased. 

4. Because of the small groups the teacher will 
be able to reach individually those pupils who are weak 



PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 



53 



in one subject and thus enable such pupils to advance 
with their grade. 

Certain disadvantages are mentioned: 

1. Rushing children through the grades tends to 
superficiality and lack of thoroughness and is likely 
to undermine the health of nervous ambitious pupils. 

2. The formality of the Constant Group tends to 
cause the teacher to lose personal touch with the pupils. 

3. Acquirement of a certain amount of kno wedge 
is made the standard of advance and undue stress is 
likely to be placed on tests and examinations. 

4. The dull and slow children are likely to be 
misunderstood and neglected. 

The advantages claimed for the Shifting Group 

are as follows: 

1. No child is slighted or neglected. The bright 
child does thorough work and is kept up to the mark 
by reviews and drills. 

2. He learns how to study and has time to form 

habits of study. 

3. Children in the slow group are given more time 
for instruction and thus brought up to grade, and pass 
with their brighter fellows to the next higher class, 
although they may not have covered as much ground 
in all subjects. 

4. Every child receives personal attention and 
instruction from the teacher. 

5. Since this does not require grouping in all 
subjects, certain branches may be taught to the class 
as a whole, thus retaining the advantages of having 
the class recite together. The studies for grouping 
are usually reading, arithmetic and grammar. 

The method of carrying out the Group System is 
somewhat as follows: 

1. The new lesson is presented to the class as a 
whole. A short test following the lessons reveals such 



54 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

pupils as have not mastered the new points and so 
need further instruction. 

2. At the next recitation only those pupils are 
called to the class who failed to grasp the points at 
the previous lesson. The others, whom we may call 
Group A, remain at their seats to do extensive study. 
Those who have been called to the recitation, whom 
we may call Group B, again go over the lesson of the 
previous day, attacking it from a new point of view. 
A test at the end of this period will probably reveal 
a small number of pupils from this group who have as 
yet failed to grasp the essential points of the lesson. 

3. This group, called Group C, will come to the 
recitation for a third period of study on the lesson, 
while Group B will be assigned study work similar 
to that assigned Group A, on the previous day, and the 
latter group will be given new work. 

4. After the pupils in Group C have grasped the 
work, the class is reassembled and another section of 
new material is presented to the class as a whole. 

According to one writer, the main objection to the 
plan is the difficulty in arranging for seat, or study work. 
Unless such work is carefully planned for and is care- 
fully supervised it tends to foster habits of slovenliness 
and idleness. Rightly planned for and supervised it 
cultivates that most valuable of all habits, the power 
of independent work. 



GERMAN PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 55 



Chapter Four 

GERMAN PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 

The Charlottenburg Plan 

Charlottenburg, the largest suburb of Berlin, has 
lately reorganized its school system to make it better 
meet the needs of the children. The school officials 
have come to the conclusion that a rigid course of 
study, which all the children are required to pursue, 
while it may meet the needs of the children in the 
smaller cities and towns, is not adapted to the needs 
of the children of a great city, whose mental and physi- 
cal endowments are the result of such varied influences 
in both the home and in society at large. They have 
sought to meet these conditions by adjusting the school 
organization to the abilities of the children. 

The six-year-old children, who are unable to meet 
the demands of the regular school classes, are placed 
in small preparatory classes of 24 pupils each and given 
instruction that partakes largely of the nature of the 
kindergarten. 

Regular instruction for the abler children who begin 
school work is given in classes of not over 45 pupils 
each. 

Those children who cover the course in this class 
are promoted to Class Six, the lowest regular class of 
the six-grade course; those pupils who fail are given the 
opportunity of entering a class only a half-year below 
in point of progress. 

For the backward pupils the course is so arranged 
that on finishing the Grund-klasse they enter Class 



56 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Six B. The course for the B classes is divided into 
half-year sections, thus making promotion or demotion 
easy. The membership of the B classes is limited to 
thirty. These B classes correspond to the furthering 
classes of the Mannheim system. They are separate 
from the special auxiliary schools which are for children 
with mental defects. 

By means of the selective process in these B classes 
it is easy to determine the children who need the aid 
of the auxiliary schools. The Charlottenburg plan 
makes it possible to individualize instruction at every 
step of the course and to treat the child according to 
his ability and his present needs. 

As can be readily seen, the Charlottenburg plan 
is not different in its essentials from many of the plans 
which have been worked out in our own schools. 

The two important features of the plan are the 
special provisions for private help for such children as 
are failing in their studies, three hours a week being 
devoted to this work; and second, readjustment of 
the course of study by diminishing the amount of 
abstract memory work and placing greater stress on 
the concrete things in the child's environment, on 
drawing and allied work. 

The Mannheim System 

In Berlin, from 1896 to 1899, only about 61% of 
the children reached the highest classes of the Volks- 
schule; in Charlottenburg, from 1890 to 1900, some 
50% of the pupils left school, having covered only a 
part of the elementary school course. In other city 
systems of Germany the conditions were still worse. 
In Mannheim during the last two decades of the last 
century only about a fourth of all pupils were being 
carried through the highest grade. 



GERMAN PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 57 

These failures were attributed to overcrowded 
classes, to over-difficult courses of study, to child labor, 
to absence, and to frequent changing from school to 
school. These reasons did not constitute the chief 
cause in the minds of many school officials; among 
them was Dr. Sickinger, superintendent of the schools 
of Mannheim. He attributed the failures to the fact 
that the school did not take account of the differences 
in the learning ability of the children. The children 
in the schools were being treated as if they all had the 
same powers of mind, hence, the failure of large num- 
bers to profit by the instruction offered. 

The Mannheim system of school organization was 
established in 1899 and is an attempt to remedy the 
difficulties pointed out above, by adapting the organ- 
ization of the schools to the needs of individuals. 

The Mannheim plan consists of a system of special 
classes running parallel to the regular classes of the 
Volksschule. In these special classes or "furthering 
classes" as they are called, are placed those pupils who, 
for one reason or another, show themselves too weak 
or too slow to do the work of the regular classes. Such 
pupils are grouped into classes that form seven grades 
running parallel to the seven regular grades. These 
classes are organized on the same plan as the regular 
classes and do much the same work, although less 
extensive. It has been found, however, that a special 
course of study should be arranged for these seven 
grades. 

It would appear from the accounts of the Mann- 
heim system that have been written in English that 
there is a constant interchange of pupils between the 
regular classes and the "furthering classes." This 
is not the actual condition of things in Mannheim. 

During the year 1907-8, out of 2,354 pupils enrolled 
in the "furthering classes," only seven gained extra- 



58 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



THE MANNHEIM PLAN OF GRADING 

Sp.vinJvinJ 

t 

Sp.vii vn| " L vii | 

t i 

§p.VI VI | ">& A*|\|Lvi 

$V>?\ v| 5Lv| 

P ml iii 

5. H I OC II 




5 iv I Qt'iv 





«3F nil £1 m 




t 






e. 



THE CLASS ORGANIZATION OF THE VOLKSSCHULE IN MANNHEIM 

A. Regular classes, constituting eight grades. 

Sp = Language classes for gifted pupils. 
Sp P = Preparatory language classes. 

P = Preparatory classes for pupils wishing to enter the Gymnasium, the 
Realgymnasium, the Oberrealschule and the Reformschule. 

B. Furthering classes, constituting five, six or seven grades, the distinguishing 
feature of the Mannheim system. 

L = Leaving or Finishing classes for pupils who will soon reach the limit 

of compulsory school attendance. 
F = Furthering classes for slow pupils. 
Auxiliary classes for mentally defective pupils. 
A = Auxiliary classes. 
A P = Preparatory class. 
I = Institution for idiots and imbeciles. 



C. 



Destination of regularly promoted pupils. 
Destination of demoted pupils. 



The blocks representing the different grades also represent a school year in time. 
I = Idiot Asylum. 



G = Gymnasium 
Rg = Realgymnasium 
O = Oberrealschule 
R = Reformschule 



Higher 
Schools. 



GERMAN PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 59 

ordinary promotions within the school year to a higher 
grade of the regular classes, and only seven to a higher 
grade of the " furthering classes." At the end of the 
year only 123 pupils from these classes were promoted 
to higher grades of the regular classes. 1,741 were 
promoted to " furthering classes" of a higher grade, 
103 to a "furthering class" of the same grade; 18 were 
sent to the auxiliary classes and 359 withdrawn from 
school. 

It is clear that the " furthering classes" are almost 
exclusively for a special class of children who have little 
hope of gaining the regular classes, only 5.2% of the 
number enrolled being able to accomplish this end. 

In commenting on these figures Dr. Sickinger 
writes in his yearly report for 1908 as follows: "These 
results are a confirmation of the view previously pre- 
sented of the character and object of the 'furthering 
classes. ' The deficiency which is peculiar to the pupils 
in the 'furthering classes,' shows itself chiefly, not as 
a gap which has arisen through conditions of neglect 
in the course of instruction but as lack of ability inherent 
in the nature of the children." "The capacity of the 
children for school work," according to Dr. Sickinger, 
"is in consequence of physiological, psychological, 
pathological and sociological conditions so variable 
that it is impossible, as promotion statistics show, to 
carry forward on a level through the same course of 
study and within the compulsory school age, from six 
to fourteen, all children obliged by law to attend the 
folk-schools. " 

On this conception the differentiation which char- 
acterizes the Mannheim organization is built up. 

The pupils are separated, according to their 
individual endowments, into three groups. The men- 
tally defective, who under ordinary conditions must be 
sent out from the lower grades as illiterates are assigned 



60 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

to the auxiliary schools which represent in their organ- 
ization the first four grades of school work; next, the 
normally endowed children who are expected each 
year to be capable of gaining a promotion, are assigned 
to the regular classes of the regular eight-grade course; 
then those children, who while not abnormal, still are 
classed as below the average, are placed in the so-called 
"furthering classes." These classes are the main 
feature of the Mannheim system. Instead of being 
carried along with the regular classes, about 10% of 
the children enrolled in the folk-schools are segregated 
and taught in these " furthering classes," numbering 
not more than 38 pupils each. Not all German school 
men are in favor of the Mannheim system. The chief 
argument against it seems to be that so much extra 
machinery is not necessary to give the best results both 
to the bright pupils and also the backward. 

Pretzel, writing in the Die Deutsche Schule, makes 
a strong point of the fact that the gifted pupils are 
needed in the classes to spur on the backward by their 
example. 

A writer in the Pddagogische Zeitung of August, 1906, 
criticises both the Mannheim and the Charlottenburg 
plans. He says that the fault in the system of schools 
lies in a too difficult course of study which is causing an 
overtension of the powers of all the children, quick as 
well as slow. The remedy for this is not a division 
of pupils into classes according to their mental ability 
as has been done in Mannheim and Charlottenburg, 
but a simplification of the course of study so that all 
but the very few can accomplish it. For these few a 
second year in a grade will not be a detriment but a 
benefit. The " furthering schools" are to him unneces- 
sary. " Where," he asks, "is the division of pupils 
into mental groups to stop? In Mannheim there are 
three divisions, but Charlottenburg has gone a step 



GERMAN PLANS OF CLASSIFICATION 61 

further and established a four-fold division, the very- 
bright at the top, then the normal, then the backward 
and finally those who must be taught in the auxiliary 
school." The criticism closes with the admonition 
that among all these charitable arrangements in the 
school system the normal child must not be lost 
sight of. 



62 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Five 

THE CLASS VERSUS THE CLASS=INDIVIDUAL 
PLAN OF INSTRUCTION 

Opinions of Superintendents and Principals 

Within the past few months (1910) I have sent to 
many of the leading superintendents and normal school 
principals in every state to gain first-hand information 
as to what was being done in the way of training teach- 
ers to recognize and meet the needs of individual 
children; and second, to find out what was actually 
being done, and also what ought to be done in the 
schoolroom in this direction. The results of these 
returns are to be considered more at length in another 
section of my study. 

One question asked of both normal school prin- 
cipals and superintendents was this: "Are you fully 
satisfied with the all-class method of school instruction 
and if not, how would you modify it to meet the needs 
of slow and backward or other needy individual 
pupils?" 

Of the 54 superintendents and normal school prin- 
cipals who answered this question 45 expressed them- 
selves as not satisfied with the all-class method. One 
expressed himself as fully satisfied with the method, 
while eight gave answers that could not be interpreted 
either for or against. It will be interesting to read 
several of the answers as they will form a sort of intro- 
duction to the discussion of several plans of individual 
instruction. 



CLASS VERSUS CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 63 

1. "I do not approve the all-class method. A part of the time of 
the teacher should be given to individual instruction." 

2. "I believe that in every school from half an hour to an hour per 
day should be devoted to work with individuals and that this hour 
should be during school hours. " 

3. "I am not satisfied with the all-class method and am not using 
it but a part of the time. " 

4. "I would suggest that the pupils be given more time for independ- 
ent study, during which time the regular teacher should work with the 
slow and backward pupils, asking such questions and offering such 
suggestions as will stimulate them to their best effort. " 

5. "No, give individual attention to such pupils as need it, which 
includes most of every school." 

6. "The class method of instruction has its obvious limitations. I 
should not want to abandon the class work, but supplement it with 
individual instruction." 

7. "I know of no more well developed plan than the Batavia one. 
But suspect by a more thorough study by a larger number of experts 
still better results may be reached." 

8 "I suppose the ideal way in which to attack this problem is to 
work for smaller classes. If this is not practical, then a special teacher 
to each group of six or eight classes may be the next best thing. Other- 
wise in a closely crowded system of large schools each under a single 
teacher, I believe the best plan to be an unequal division of the class 
into two sections so that each of the slower pupils may receive a larger 
measure of the teacher's time than would otherwise be the case. 

9 "I would not modify the class recitation. It is, properly conducted, 
the best educational instrument the teacher has. Individual pupils 
should have the teacher's attention outside of recitation." 

10. "No, I like an adaptation of the Batavia system." 
11 "A bit of personal experience may be in part an answer to the 
question and it may interest you. In 1896 the school committee of 
Waltham made arrangement with the Normal School at Frammgham 
by which students who had finished their junior year might become 
assistants in different schools in the city whose need was greatest, 
to work with backward children. They were paid twenty-five dollars 
per month. Besides these workers we had an unassigned teacher of 
ability in the two large grammar schools whose work was with back- 
ward children and in doing substitute work in case of absence of any 
regular teacher. This plan was very successful in reducing the non- 
promoted children from a yearly average of about 20% to one of bye 
to seven per cent. But in this work we never lost sight of what Dr. 
Harris and Dr. White call the 'community interest,' of the class as a 
whole. We need the ' community interest and not factional or group 
interests.'" 

12. " The all-class method is not satisfactory or adequate. This is 
coming to be universally conceded. We are setting apart periods 
for individual work. I should judge there might be some merit m 
the New York City plan of grouping." 



64 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

13. "Every teacher should use every effort to help the unfortunate, 
even if it takes much extra time. I have not been able to devise a 
panacea for a recognized evil." 

14. "If classes could be made small, not over thirty pupils to the 
teacher, and ungraded classes could be formed, whenever necessary, 
for deficient children, I should be fairly satisfied. I think that back- 
ward children should have a measure of individual help but any scheme 
which devotes a disproportionate amount of effort to the dull pupil 
in an effort to make him accomplish as much as the brighter member of 
the class is both futile and dangerous." 

15. "I am fully satisfied with class methods. There is no 'the class 
method' for there are several. A class method that really develops, 
a method in which the teacher's aim in any given subject is to separate 
the subject into its elements, to arrange these elements in logical 
order, and then to bring the class face to face with these elements one 
after the other in this proper sequence and in proper time, is the quickest 
and surest means of reaching the so-called backward, or slow child." 

It is thus evident that probably a large majority 
of school men are in favor of, and earnestly seeking for, 
some plan of meeting the needs of the individual chil- 
dren. The opinion last read expressing approval of 
the all-class plan was rather the prevalent one ten 
years ago. It is encouraging to know that the trend 
of opinion is in the opposite direction. 

We shall next consider three plans of school in- 
struction that have placed great emphasis on individual 
instruction: first, the Pueblo plan; second, the plan 
in use in Newton, Massachusetts ; and last, the Batavia 
system of class-individual instruction. The Pueblo, 
or Search plan, makes instruction almost wholly indi- 
vidual and is in a way a return to the old ungraded 
school ; the Newton plan has retained many of the good 
features of the Pueblo plan and eliminated many of the 
questionable ones; while the Batavia plan is more sys- 
tematic than either of the other two in that it assigns 
a definite amount of time on the daily program which 
is to be devoted to individual instruction and presents 
a rather definite technique which such instruction 
is to follow. 



CLASS VERSUS CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 65 

Plans of Instruction for Reaching the Individual Pupil 
The Pueblo Plan 

The Pueblo or Individual Plan of instruction was de- 
veloped by Mr. Preston I. Search while superintendent 
of schools in Pueblo, Colorado. 

The plan is essentially a return to the individual 
organization of the school which prevailed for centuries 
until La Salle late in the seventeenth century dis- 
covered the value of class instruction. Indeed, the 
individual method existed in Scotland as late as 1886 
in some of the very best schools. 

Under this plan each pupil is a class going ahead 
as fast as he is able or thinks he is able. The teacher 
hears every pupil recite that portion of the work that 
he has been able to prepare. The Pueblo plan was 
applied in both the high and elementary schools. The 
working day in the high school was divided into six 
periods each one hour long. One regular period each 
day was given to physical training in the gymnasium, 
while on alternate days another period was devoted 
to manual work. This arrangement allowed ±y 2 hours 
each day in which to do the work in the regular high 
school studies. To quote from Mr. Search, " Three 
periods a day are definitely assigned to the three literary 
studies carried on together; the additional l l A hours 
is regarded as extra to be spent wherever the pupil 
needs it most, or in some cases according to his indi- 
vidual bent. In the lower classes the assignment of 
this extra time is left to the teacher; in the two higher 
classes it is left to the student. In the high school the 
work is conducted by departments and hence a field 
program is followed. In grades below the high school, 
the work is entirely by flexible programs, excepting 
as certain studies are arranged so as to systematize 
the time of certain teachers. The studies do not 



66 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

always come in the same order and hence all studies 
can share in the advantages of the stronger hours of 
the day. The time is not apportioned by rule, but is 
left entirely to the judgment of the teacher. The working 
periods are longer than is usual elsewhere. In the 
primary grades the methods are largely those of the 
kindergarten. Indeed, it may be added that the entire 
plan of the school finds its keynote in the application 
of the principles of the kindergarten to every depart- 
ment of school work." 

The class recitation as ordinarily conducted was 
abolished because it reflected on the honesty of the 
pupils' preparation and because it wasted so much of 
the pupils' time. The school was transformed into 
a sort of laboratory; the office of the teacher was to 
pass from desk to desk, inspiring, directing and correct- 
ing each pupil at his work. The recitation and exam- 
ination are wholly individual and each pupil, to use the 
words of Mr. Search, "actually and absolutely recites 
every chapter and line of his Latin, every section of his 
other studies, and passes his examination in the most 
thorough manner." The class exercise is used by the 
teacher at the beginning of a working period for pre- 
senting new principles and for giving general directions. 

In the elementary schools the plan is somewhat 
different. The work of a given class is concerned with 
some subject, as percentage. Some of the pupils will 
do a minimum amount of work, while others will 
accomplish much that is supplemental. There are no 
fixed methods; each teacher is allowed to attack the 
work in her own way. The subjects of the course of 
study are so arranged that those of each succeeding 
grade are anticipated in such a manner in the preceding 
that to pass from the working section of one grade to 
that of the next higher is not difficult. The flexibility 
makes promotions from grade to grade an easy matter. 



CLASS VERSUS CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 67 

"The plan," according to Superintendent Search, 
' ' is intended to care better for the so-called ' backward ' 
pupils. The system of grading that compels the pupil 
who is behind his class to drop out of sight is not right. 
Somewhere along the line there must be a place for 
every pupil, be his advancement or progress what it 
may. Teachers are instructed to provide carefully 
for the discouraged pupil and to give more time to the 
lower half of the school, remembering that the bright 
ones may always be cared for by supplemental or 
advanced assignment of work." The advantages and 
results of the plan, as summarized by Supt. Search, 
are as follows: 

"1. Better health. 

"The pupils do their work in school; the other 
hours of the day are devoted to recreation and the 
relaxation that comes from change of work. 

"2. It results in making trained, independent, 
self-reliant workers. The pupils have definite work to 
do, a definite time to do it, and they work under the 
direction of trained teachers and they are obliged to 
render an accurate account of the work done. Such 
work tends to beget self-reliance and independence. 
Each pupil stands or falls on his own merits. The 
work is all done at school, no parental help and no 
helping by fellow pupils. 

"3. There is more work accomplished and it is 
more thoroughly done. 

"4. There is more enthusiasm in the work. The 
dull and listless recitation with the time consumed 
listening to dull and poorly prepared pupils is done 
away with. Each pupil realizes that he has a chance 
to do his best and to advance according to his ability, 
hampered in no way. He develops a love of work and 
is filled with the enthusiasm that results from real 
accomplishment. 



68 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

"5. There is less discouragement. Every boy 
and every girl has a place in the school and a chance 
to do his or her best. There is no such thing as failure 
to be promoted. Each pupil is promoted each day. 

"6. There is more opportunity for additional and 
outside work. There is time for pupils to read good 
books, attend lectures, and to do many other things 
outside of school that are as much a part of education 
as school work itself. 

" Individual work of the kind mentioned calls for 
strong teachers, teachers who are more than lesson- 
hearers, who are masters of their subjects, and ready 
to point the way to the pupil at any stage of his prog- 
ress." 

We have discussed the individual plan somewhat 
in detail because school men in general have been 
somewhat disposed to ridicule it. The plan, however, 
as worked out by Supt. Search has so many points of 
excellence that it is worthy of serious study. 

That in seeking to obviate the defect of the graded 
school, Supt. Search was led to slight certain well- 
established points of excellence in the class-method of 
instruction and organization, cannot be doubted. 

Individual Work at Newton, Massachusetts 

We find in the school system of Newton, Massa- 
chusetts, the nearest approach to a realization of the 
ideals for which Search rightly contends in his book, 
"The Ideal School." Of course, individual teaching 
is not carried to the extreme which makes it destructive 
of what there is good in class work, but the individual 
child is made the focusing point of the whole school 
system and toward the middle point the teaching 
power is directed. The work at Newton, under Dr. 
F. E. Spaulding, is based on the thesis that "such a 
modification of the rigid system of gradation and pro- 



CLASS VERSUS CLASS INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 69 

motion is necessary as will make it possible— nay 
necessary — for each pupil to work as hard, as actively, 
and as independently, and to advance as rapidly as 
his sound and well-balanced development requires. 
It means, equally, a modification which will insure that 
no pupil be dragged suddenly and kept perpetually 
beyond his depth in the ocean of knowledge, but that 
each one, by his own actual efforts, build a stable 
foundation on which he can advance and rise securely, 
if ever so slowly." 

The plan of reaching the individual is made effec- 
tive by the employment of unassigned teachers. 

The unassigned teacher has no regular class. Her 
work is supplementary to the class work of several 
teachers. 

"The day's work of an unassigned teacher may be something like 
this. For the first half-hour in the morning there comes to her room 
a little group of a half-dozen children from a third grade. The third- 
grade teacher has selected these children because they are all having 
difficulty, beyond that experienced by their classmates, with some 
process in arithmetic, perhaps it is multiplication or division. The 
unassigned teacher has previously been informed as fully as possible 
concerning the condition and needs of these children. The half-hour 
is spent in discovering still more accurately the peculiar difficulties of 
each one, and in giving each just the assistance and practice which he 
requires. This work is individual so far as need be; at the same time 
the group can usually work together advantageously. 

"At the end of the half-hour these children return to their class, 
and a group of children come from the seventh grade; perhaps there 
are only four in this group. They are not having unusual difficulty 
with any subject. Quite the contrary; they need more work and 
more difficult work than their class as a whole is capable of. Yet 
they are not fitted to pass at once successfully into the class next above 
theirs. The unassigned teacher prepares them for this long advance 
step. She takes them through the essentials which separate the work 
of their present class from that of the class which they are preparing 
to enter. To-day, and perhaps for several days, the work is in arith- 
metic. Other days it will be history, or geography, or grammar. 

"When the period is over, these children give their place to a group 
from a fourth grade. The members of this group are neither having 
unusual difficulties nor are they capable of more than their classmates. 
They are temporarily behind the work of their class. There has been 
an epidemic of measles in their room and they have been kept out for 
several weeks on account of illness or exposure. The unassigned teach- 
er's work with these will be similar in purpose to that with the last 



70 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

group; she will take them rapidly over the essentials covered by the 
class during their enforced absence. 

"The unassigned teacher's fourth period is occupied with a full 
division, perhaps twenty pupils, of children of the fifth grade. They 
come from a large class composed of two grades, the fourth and the 
fifth. To relieve the regular teacher of some of her many recitations, 
the unassigned teacher takes the work in arithmetic with the fifth-grade 
division. 

"The fifth period is devoted to a single child. He does not belong 
to any grade, judged by the evidences of ability which he shows when 
assigned any definite task. So he probably comes from a class in which 
he is not too conspicuous on account of his size. The unassigned 
teacher tries patiently to determine just what the serious obstacles 
in the child's advancement are. He may have to be sent to a special 
class for backward children. Possibly, with sufficient individual atten- 
tion, he can work into some regular class." 

Thus the work of the unassigned teacher goes on 
throughout the periods of the school day. Sometimes 
she works with pupils who are trying to gain a grade, 
more often with those who are behind in their work 
and need special aid to catch up with the class, or again, 
she works with individual children whose peculiarities 
of mental endowment place them out of adjustment 
with regular school work. 

In Newton there are also unassigned teachers in 
the high school. 

The great drawback to this kind of work is the 
difficulty in securing experienced teachers who are 
fitted for this special work. The ordinary teacher by 
training and experience is so thoroughly imbued with 
the idea of class teaching that it is hard for her to 
realize the significance of individual teaching. 

The work in Newton is done by the most promising 
graduates of the normal schools, who, according to 
Supt. Spaulding, take up the work much more readily 
than do experienced teachers. 

This would seem to suggest a fault in our present 
methods of training teachers, in that they are given 
no abiding conception of what individual teaching 
means. It also suggests a fault in our present system 
of school organization which is usually so ordered that 



CLASS VERSUS CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 71 

the teacher comes into contact with the class mind 
to such an extent that she forgets the individual units 
and does not possess the ability to reach these lesser 
units. 

At Newton the endeavor has been to eradicate 
from the minds of teachers and principals the idea that 
every pupil must begin the work of a grade in the fall 
and complete it the following spring, and that every 
pupil who fails must repeat the work of the grade 
where the failure occurred. 

The fact has also been emphasized that real pro- 
motion is not a thing which takes place at stated periods 
but that it is continuous from day to day, if the work 
of the school is properly individualized. 

Promotion is by subjects, rather than by grades. 
The range of variation among the different pupils of 
a class in the different subjects may be several months. 
In no case is it more than a year. Frequently the 
same teacher has charge of a class for two years, while 
often it is found advantageous to transfer individuals 
or groups from one teacher to another. The funda- 
mental idea of the whole system is the best good of 
the individual, not his rapid passing through a number 
of grades. "Better grasp of subject-matter, better 
training in independent thinking may mean slower 
advancement for one pupil than for another." 

Yet when the pupils and the parents understand 
that honest and independent work is what counts and 
that the school is so ordered that individual achieve- 
ment is made possible at every point in the course, it 
is safe to say that as much progress will be made by 
all pupils as under the plan of rigid promotion and that 
the progress of the majority, so far as real education 
is concerned, will be vastly increased. Thus it is seen 
that at Newton there is no uniform plan of organizing 
a class for individual work. "Such a plan," according 



72 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

to Supt. Spaulding, " would defeat the very purpose of 
this work. In some subjects the pupils work in con- 
stantly changing groups, there being two, three, and 
sometimes even four groups within a class in some 
particular subject. Individuals are ministered to 
according to their needs but the individual works alone 
only until he can be classified with some group." 

Class-work occasionally takes the nature of ex- 
planations and discussions on new topics, more fre- 
quently the nature of class drills on mechanical work; 
or again, topics which have been studied by the class- 
members individually may be taken up in review by the 
class. The problem work is largely individual, each 
pupil depending on his own efforts and solving as many 
as he can. 

As a means of advancing from a lower to a higher 
group, a pupil may do the work of both groups in 
certain sequential subjects. 

The actual working out of this plan is described 
by principal Charlton D. Miller of the Hyde School 
District in Newton: 

"1. One class, a combination of first and second grade pupils, is 
composed of fifteen of the most promising pupils of a large first grade 
in September and the B, or lower section, of the second grade. In all 
probability, most of the first grade class will enter on third grade work 
during the early part of the next school year. 

"2. In the fourth grade, a group of seven will probably reach the 
sixth grade in June or early autumn. The plan for accomplishing this 
is simple and the work not unreasonably hard for the teacher. Arith- 
metic requires no extra time on the part of the teacher, as the pupils 
work ahead individually during the regular period for that subject. 
Language admits practically of the same handling. In reading and 
geography there are separate divisions. 

"3. A group of six pupils from the A section of the sixth grade, 
working under special provision, will, doubtless, complete the work 
of grades six and seven and take up eighth grade work soon after, if 
not at the opening of school in September. 

"The entire class is considerably in advance of the grade work. 
Seventh grade geography will be completed by all members of the class. 

"With the arithmetic taken care of by the individual classification, 
only history and grammar remain to be planned for specially, which is 
easily accomplished by the teacher without any outside work. 



CLASS VERSUS CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 73 

"Grammar is given on alternate days; and the lessons being corre- 
spondingly longer, the ground can be covered. Advanced history is 
given while the rest of the class do language work. 

"4. Seven pupils from the A section of the seventh grade are work- 
ing for an early promotion to grade nine. There is every indication 
that this will be accomplished in time for the completion of ninth grade 
work by the end of the next school year. 

"Here again the work will be conducted by the teacher in regular 
school hours, with the exception of geography which is being taught 
by the special assistant. These pupils have nearly completed seventh 
grade work in some subjects, and are working in separate divisions 
in history, geography, and grammar, preparing and reciting on alter- 
nate days. History and geography may not be entirely completed 
by June; and, in that case, study continues during the summer or early 
autumn, and examinations are taken. 

"5. There have been the following cases of recent, individual 
promotions. 

"A pupil has been promoted from the A section of the second grade 
to grade three, because of conspicuous ability as shown in class work, 
with evident capacity for advanced work. 

"Two pupils have received a promotion from the fourth grade to 
the B section of the fifth grade because of the same conditions. 

"Another typical promotion of this kind was that of a boy from 
the A section of the fifth grade to the A section of the sixth grade. In 
a case of this kind, there is some sixth grade geography to be made up. 
This is directed by the teacher who promotes the pupil." 



74 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Six 

THE BATAVIA PLAN 

Class=Individual Instruction 

Class-individual instruction, better known as the 
Batavia System, had its origin in the town of Batavia, 
N. Y. The history of this origin is very interesting. 
There was an over-crowded room of some sixty pupils 
in one of the Batavia schools. By a fortunate sug- 
gestion on the part of Superintendent John Kennedy 
it was decided to relieve the congestion by putting an 
additional teacher into the room instead of taking 
a class out. This teacher was Miss Lucie Hamilton 
and to her rare personality and superior teaching power 
is due largely the initial success of class-individual 
instruction. 

Miss Hamilton was not an assistant to the room 
teacher. Her rank was co-ordinate but her work was 
entirely different. It was to be wholly with those 
pupils who for one reason or another were behind their 
class. She was to work with these pupils individually 
until they were able to work with the other members of 
the class. She was to work with the laggards until 
they were able to work with the leaders. From this 
individual teacher, class-individual instruction took 
its rise. For the first time in the history of education 
a teacher had been ( assigned to deal with backward 
pupils in a humane way. Up to this time they had 
been neglected or else classed by themselves in rooms 
for backward pupils and with the spur that comes from 



THE BATAVIA PLAN 75 

an aggregation of dullness they were supposed to suc- 
ceed. Now they were to be kept with their fellows 
and given the opportunity to succeed. And they did 
succeed. After a few months of class-individual 
instruction, it was evident that a marked change had 
taken place in the first of two-teacher rooms. Pupils 
who had been considered very dull began to improve, 
and some of them were soon up among the leaders. 
There was only one way to explain the really marvelous 
change. The reason lay in the work of the teacher, 
who hour after hour, and day after day, had called the 
retarded and backward pupils to her side to find the 
difficulties, and to encourage them to overcome these 
difficulties. 

There was a change not only in the working ability 
of the pupils, there was a change in their attitude as 
well. The whole atmosphere of the room was changed. 
All were happily at work. There were no bright pupils 
with nothing to do, and no dull pupils who could do 
nothing. The standard of work was gauged by what 
the ablest pupil could do, and all the pupils were soon 
well up to the standard. 

So the good work went on in that room, and then 
the test came. Would the plan get similar results in 
other over-crowded rooms? Additional teachers were 
placed in other overcrowded rooms, and the results 
were as good as those of the original two-teacher room. 
It was thus shown that the success of the plan was not 
due to the personality or ability of a specially gifted 
teacher. 

The success of the plan was so great that the 
superintendent and school officials began to think that 
the two-teacher room, with the combination of class 
and individual instruction, was the only solution of the 
problem of the dull and backward child. But after 
the two-teacher plan had been in successful operation 



76 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

for a year, it dawned upon Superintendent Kennedy 
that success was due not to the two teachers but to 
the two kinds of teaching. It was the happy blending 
of individual with class instruction that was obtaining 
the results. So after thinking the matter out very 
carefully, he announced to the teachers of the regular 
grade rooms that they also were to give individual 
instruction. He tells us that they looked astonished 
and asked how it was to be done. His answer was that 
half the school time was to be taken for individual 
instruction and half for class instruction. Some of the 
teachers doubted; some protested, saying they could 
not get the pupils along by giving all the time to 
class work and to expect the work to be done by de- 
voting one-half the time to the dullards was simply 
preposterous. 

"Well," said the superintendent, "the only way 
to tell is to try it. We have the old school plant intact. 
We have torn nothing down ; and if the new plan proves 
a failure it will be an easy matter to go back to the 
old way. All I ask is that you give the new plan a 
thorough trial. " 

And they did — and no teacher went back to the 
old plan, and no teacher has ever wanted to go back. 
In this way the Batavia System had its birth. Its 
success in the single-teacher rooms was as marked as 
that in the two-teacher rooms. It met with like 
success in the rooms where one teacher taught two 
grades, and it has met with success in schools where 
the teacher has many grades. 

Briefly, then, class-individual instruction is a 
systematic plan for helping slow and backward pupils 
to help themselves. We know that it has wonderful 
power to open the minds and hearts of children, both 
large and small, and cause them to unfold and grow. 
Col. Parker has said that the best result of the Quincy 



THE BATAVIA PLAN 77 

idea was a more humane treatment of little children. 
The best result of class-individual instruction is a 
more humane treatment of all children, large as well 
as small. We have been sacrificing millions of our 
children to the machinery of the graded school system. 
We have been trying to mechanize education. Class- 
individual instruction seeks to humanize this mechan- 
ism. It is only sympathy and common sense combined. 
For years we have been writing and talking about the 
individual child but we have been doing very little 
for him. Class-individual instruction does something 
for the individual child. 

The idea of the system is really very beautiful. 
Here is an intelligent, sympathetic teacher, studying 
her flock to find the needy ones. She calls these needy 
ones to her side, one after another, and talks with them, 
and encourages them, points out their difficulties, and 
leads them to master these difficulties. She points the 
way, — she leads; they work and gain the power. The 
thing most needed in our schools is systematic, sym- 
pathetic individual help as an aid to class instruction. 
The plan we are considering gives this systematic, 
sympathetic, individual help. 

What has the plan done for the children of Batavia? 

It has given them the spirit of work and the power 
to work. The spirit of work is everywhere in all rooms. 
The pupils, all of them, attack difficulties with confi- 
dence and self-reliance. 

You know there is a saying that "he who can is 
king. " The children of Batavia can, they have power; 
they can do things ; they are kings of their work. They 
attack difficulties without shrinking or cringing; and 
they master things usually. In case they are not able 
to master a difficulty, there is someone ready to point 
the way to mastery. The individual teacher is a leader 
rather than a helper. She has travelled the road and 



78 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

knows the way. She says to the pupil, "This way, 
follow me." The pupil follows but does the climbing 
himself; there is no boosting by the teacher. 

The person who thinks that individual instruction 
means doing the work for the pupil misses the point 
entirely. The teacher works with the pupil, not for 
him. She gives him sympathy in his difficulties, but 
she never becomes so sentimental as to do his work 
for him. She encourages him by telling him that the 
difficulties he is meeting are such as all who have 
traveled the road of knowledge have met and mastered, 
and they are such as he may master if he will put forth 
the effort. The successful teacher under the class- 
individual instruction plan is a sympathetic, patient, 
courageous leader and as such she develops sympathy, 
patience and courage in her pupils. 

The late Professor Hinsdale, in his excellent book, 
"The Art of Study," tells us that nowhere in this 
country is the art of study adequately taught. He 
then tells us that children must learn to study by study- 
ing under intelligent direction. The intelligent direc- 
tion is the teacher's work. It means directing in the 
right way, time, and place. Teaching is causing the 
pupils to learn through intelligent direction. The pupil 
must do the work, do the studying himself. The 
pupils at Batavia know how to study and they study. 
They work and are happy. They have time for study 
and they use it for study. The great cry all along 
the line is, that children do not know how to study. 
How can they know if we do not give them the oppor- 
tunity to learn? Direct them intelligently, give them 
something definite to study and then hold them respon- 
sible for the work assigned and you will find the chil- 
dren will develop the power to study. 

The fault with most teachers is that they help 
either too little or too much. In one case the result 



THE BATAVIA PLAN 79 

is discouragement; in the other it is loss of power. To 
let a pupil wrestle with difficulties that he cannot 
master, is bad ; to help him over difficulties that he can 
master with proper direction, is, perhaps, worse. Indi- 
vidual instruction aims to teach the pupil how to study 
by giving him something definite to study, with proper 
direction in case of need. 

The children at Batavia have the power of inde- 
pendent work. There is no deception on the part of 
the pupil, no trying to tell something that the pupil 
does not know is right, in the hope that it might happen 
to be right. This habit of bluffing is perhaps the worst 
trait possessed by school children to-day. It is the at- 
tempt to get credit for something that is not the pupil's 
own possession. It is the direct result of the present 
system of class teaching, when the teacher is a tester 
and not a true teacher; where it is a disgrace to confess 
ignorance and to say, "I don't know." If a pupil in 
Batavia does not know a thing, he says so frankly, 
and is either told to look it up, or at the next individual 
period he is taught what he does not know. There is 
no premium placed on superficial word repetition. 
There is no attempt to deceive the teacher; such an 
attempt would fail because the teacher knows her 
pupils. Her work is teaching not testing. She tests, 
of course; but she tests that she may teach; she does 
not teach that she may test. There is a great difference 
between the two kinds of work. The pupils are work- 
ing for knowledge and power, not a high per cent, on 
report cards. If the plan did nothing more than elim- 
inate deception from class recitation it would be a 
great blessing. 

Some of the chief merits of class-individual in- 
struction are its provision daily for a definite amount 
of individual instruction and its insistence that this 
time be given to those pupils who are most in need. 



80 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

It also lays stress on the fact that instruction is to 
be given at the point of greatest need rather than on 
the daily lesson. This is one of the main principles 
of efficient individual teaching, yet it is the one that 
is the hardest to get teachers to apply. Real individual 
teaching goes back, back until it reaches solid ground 
and there it begins to build. 

The plan also provides the supervised study-period. 
The plan has been criticised because it devotes too much 
time to the backward pupils. It does devote a large 
share of the time to the backward pupils because they 
are the most needy, but in case the bright pupil shows 
that he needs individual instruction he receives his share. 

Opinions of Teachers on Individual Instruction 

It is interesting to read what teachers who have 
used individual instruction systematically in the school- 
room for a period of several years say as to the relation be- 
tween pupil and teacher brought about by its use. Here 
are some bits of testimony from teachers of Westerly, 
R. I., where individual instruction is a regular part of 
the daily work. A department teacher of the seventh 
and eighth grade writes : 

"The strongest argument that I know of in favor 
of individual work is the opportunity it gives the teacher 
to win the confidence and understand the personality 
of the pupil. Especially is this true in departmental 
work, where, as in my case, there are upwards of one 
hundred thirty dispositions with which to deal." 

Another seventh-grade teacher writes: 

"There is closer sympathy between teacher and 
pupils. The pupil is reached in a way that no other 
method reaches him." 

A fifth-grade teacher: 

"Teacher and pupil understand each other better, 
are drawn closer by questioning, and oftentimes a study 



THE BATAVIA PLAN 81 

once looked upon as a bugbear becomes one of pleasure 
and much profit. " 

A departmental teacher in geography and science: 
' ' I have observed a much more perfect understand- 
ing of pupil by teacher and vice-versa. Many cases 
of discipline have been most pleasantly adjusted 
through the use of this period. Many unpleasant 
happenings have been avoided by a timely talk, a 
suggestion given, or the case at hand clearly put before 
the pupil. When the way is clearly pointed out many 
follow carefully. In the case of new pupils, I have 
reached many through individual periods, have had 
them interested and reciting well in a short time, where- 
as I would not have established an acquaintance so 
soon had it not been for the individual periods. This 
is especially noticeable in the case of children who are 
timid, who come from other schools, or from environ- 
ments quite different from that of an average pupil. " 
A fourth-grade teacher: 

"There is no doubt about individual instruction 
bringing pupil and teacher into closer relations. It 
broadens the sympathies of the teacher for the pupil. 
By it, the real difficulties and problems of the child 
are discovered. I have found children failing from 
poor sight or hearing, some whose minds were dis- 
tracted from their work by regularly frequenting the 
"cheap show," and some who were purely lazy and 
needed to feel the pressure of compulsory work. I 
do feel that the opportunity that individual instruction 
gives me to know my children is very valuable. The 
personal contact with the teacher should and does 
mean much to the pupil." 

Teacher of a third and fourth grade: 
"As a result of this work there is a pleasant atmos- 
phere in the room. Pupils do not become discouraged. 
They know they will be cheerfully helped. The 



82 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

teacher is able to know the pupils better, and pointing 
out his weak points to him while he is near her at the 
desk is more graciously received than if done in the 
presence of the whole class. I have never had a 
pupil who did not accept the individual help in the 
right spirit. " 

Teacher of mixed room: 

"I think as a result of the individual system, the 
teacher and pupils become better acquainted with 
each other. There is a closer sympathy and a better 
understanding. The teacher sees more clearly the 
obstacles the child has to encounter, and the child 
learns to think of his teacher as a friend who will 
help him." 

First grade teacher: 

"I think that the pupil and teacher are brought 
more closely in touch with each other by this system 
than by any other. I would not have missed the 
close relationship for a great deal. " 

These bits of testimony are chosen at random 
from a considerable number. They represent fairly 
well the testimony of almost all the teachers who have 
used individual instruction for any length of time. 

In presenting these views no claim is made as to 
the superiority of the Batavia System over many other 
plans. It has, however, the one advantage of being 
systematic. Under it the work is done daily. It is 
based also on certain definite principles, which must to 
a large extent be common to all plans of individual 
work that are effective, and which if carried out intelli- 
gently cannot fail to win success. 

A Little Girl's Improvement Under Individual 
Instruction 

"Little Elizabeth B. attends a country school of 
three grades in the town of Westerly, R. I. She is a 



THE BATAVIA PLAN 83 

subnormal child and would not ordinarily be regarded 
as a case to be benefited by individual instruction. She 
entered school in the spring of 1902 and I well remember 
her teacher's saying to me that Elizabeth would never 
be able to do anything with the work of the first grade. 
At that time I examined Elizabeth's work very carefully 
and told her teacher that I thought we ought to try 
to persuade the mother of the child to send her to an 
institution for defective children. The little girl, how- 
ever, kept on at school doing little or nothing with the 
work. The next September she returned and started 
in with the first grade again. She was utterly unable 
to keep along with the other children. The following 
November the Batavia System was introduced into 
all the schools in Westerly. Elizabeth's teacher began 
to give her individual attention each day. Improve- 
ment was slow but improvement there surely was. 
On each of my successive visits to the school I could 
see that she was gaining ground. Toward the end of 
the year she was able to take part in the reading class 
on almost equal terms with the other members. At 
the present time she is reading with the others and a 
person who did not know, would have hard work to 
pick her out from the others, her work is so good. In 
number and written language, while her work is not up 
to the standard, the improvement has really been 
remarkable, and I believe that in time she will be able 
to do all her work well. 

The child herself is really a different being. Her 
face is certainly lighting up with intelligence. She is 
happy and enthusiastic in her work. She is very proud 
of the fact that she is able to do her work so well. 

Now the point I wish to make is this: If this 
remarkable change can be wrought on a subnormal 
child, can we not with patient, intelligent, loving, 
individual work hope to save every normal child who 



84 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

for one reason or another has been retarded in his work? 
This it seems to me is not too much to expect. If we 
do not save all these normal children, we may be sure 
that something is wrong either with the system or the 
teacher." x 

This girl is now, May 1912, in Grade Seven of an 
eight-grade system, the number of grades having been 
changed from nine to eight. She is doing good work 
and has never missed a promotion since individual 
instruction gave her a start- 
Suggestions for a Plan of Classification and Instruction 

A plan approaching the ideal would be a synthesis 
of the excellent features from many of the plans that 
have been presented. The work would be based on 
what might be called a course of study in the funda- 
mentals: this work would be so graded as to be within 
the powers of all normal children, both quick and slow. 
To it would be added a course in optional topics to be 
studied by the abler pupils largely by themselves, in 
order to develop initiative and self-direction. A record 
of such work would be made in the pupil's personal 
record book which should accompany him through 
the grades. 

Beginning, perhaps, at the sixth grade the work 
would be somewhat differentiated without in the least 
breaking up the class organization. 

For two hours a week on alternate afternoons, as 
in Switzerland, certain of the pupils would take work 
in a foreign language while the rest of the pupils could 
take hand work. The aim would be to keep the 
classes small, not more than thirty pupils in each of 
the two lower grades and not more than thirty-five 
in the other grades. In order to get the number of 



» Reprinted from Educational Work, Vol. I, 1905-06. 



THE BATAVIA PLAN 85 

pupils in the two lower grades, large classes of forty 
to sixty pupils would be divided, one-half coming in 
the morning, the other half in the afternoon. 

This plan of half-day sessions for the two lower 
grades has been carried out with success for years in 
several places. The first grade and perhaps the second 
would be divided into two divisions of ten or fifteen 
pupils each. This would reduce the seat work and its 
supervision to a minimum. Often in the second grade 
and in all the grades above, the class would recite and 
study as a whole and during the study periods the 
teacher would help individual pupils, usually singly, 
sometimes in groups of two or three, but rarely more. 
The chief feature of the plan would be the supervisor 
of individual work. This teacher would be in charge 
of the work of four or six rooms. In her hands would 
be the school welfare of all the individual pupils in 
these four or six rooms, but she would care especially 
for the abler pupils and also for the slow and backward. 
She would spend an hour or more every day in each of 
the rooms under her charge, teaching needy pupils, 
whether quick or slow. When an abler pupil had been 
promoted out of course she would see that he was 
adjusted to the work of the new grade. She would 
also look after pupils coming from other schools to see 
that they did not lose time by their change. Accom- 
panying the pupils as she would through a series of 
years, she would come to know each pupil's peculiarities 
and be able to protect him from the injury that so 
often comes from a change of teachers. This teacher 
would, furthermore, have special knowledge of mental 
defects and be able to advise with teachers and parents, 
in regard to children with such defects. She would 
combine with her other work that of the friendly 
visitor, and thus bring the school and the home into 
closer co-operation. 



86 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Such a teacher could work under almost any plan 
of grading. The plan of having such a teacher has 
been anticipated in a way in many places, with this 
difference, the individual teacher has often been a 
woman of little experience both in teaching and in life. 
What is wanted is a woman of maturity — a real school 
mother, who has a cosy corner in her heart for every 
child, who is imbued with the missionary spirit, and 
is bound to have every boy and girl under her charge 
have a fair chance. 

With our schools so organized as to grading, fol- 
lowing in the main this fundamental course of study, 
with both the class teacher and the individual super- 
visor doing individual teaching, and what is still better, 
personal work, both inside and outside of school (and 
with the really defective pupils in auxiliary schools), 
there would be little need of such separation of pupils 
as that at Mannheim, and there would be the best 
chance for every pupil to become a self-respecting, 
successful American citizen, one who could look the 
world in the face and say, "I am the master of my soul. " 



EFFECTIVE CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 



Chapter Seven 

HOW TO GIVE EFFECTIVE CLASS=INDIVIDUAL 
INSTRUCTION 

To carry out class-individual instruction success- 
fully, two things are necessary: 

A. The right spirit. 

B. The right method. 

A. The right spirit is the motive power that 
sends the teacher along the way of right- 
method to victory over slow and retarded 
minds. 

The right spirit comprehends many essentials, 
but the chief are three in number: 

1. Cheerfulness. 

2. Sympathy. 

3. Patience. 

Let us consider briefly each of these essentials. 

1. Cheerfulness is social sunshine. It is infec- 
tious. A smile on the part of the teacher will breed 
a whole room full of smiles; and a cheerful, " Let's 
work this difficulty out together," from the teacher, 
will cause the sluggish mind and heart to respond as 
nothing else will. 

A smile and a word of approval if the pupil succeeds, 
and a smile and a word of encouragement if he fails, 
these things are necessary. An atmosphere of cheer- 
fulness must pervade the room and the main source 
of this atmosphere must be the teacher's heart. 

2. Sympathy is feeling for others. It is seeing 
things with the eyes of others; feeling things with the 



88 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

hearts of others; it is the ability to know things from 
the point of view of others. It is putting one's self 
in the place of another. It sees difficulties as others 
see them. It is the power that enables the adult to be 
a child again and the teacher to be as many children 
as she has enrolled under her charge. 

The sympathetic teacher says to the slow boy: 
"This difficulty has puzzled many before you. I 
think it puzzled me. But you have the power to 
overcome the difficulty. Come, let us work together." 
Sympathy is especially necessary in dealing with boys 
and girls in the last two years of the elementary school 
and in the first two years of the high school. At this 
stage of development these boys and girls, silent, 
unresponsive, and seemingly unappreciative, crave 
the loving, sympathetic help that a mature mind can 
give. The teacher who feels for these boys and girls 
and goes to them is doing good that can never be esti- 
mated. 

3. "He that can have patience, can have what 
he will." This is especially true in giving individual 
instruction. For days, weeks, and months, the teach- 
er may work with some backward child with no 
apparent improvement. But there has been improve- 
ment and the teacher who has the patience to keep on 
will surely win. 

It is well to bear in mind the story of the old 
Jewish teacher. To a slow boy he had repeated one 
of the proverbs four hundred times; then finding that 
his pupil had not mastered the lesson, he repeated it 
four hundred times more. In giving individual in- 
struction the teacher must have patience like in degree, 
if not in kind, to that of this old Jewish teacher. 

The teacher must not only be patient in waiting 
for results, she must be patient in her daily work. 
There will often be the tendency to say to some pupil, 



EFFECTIVE CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 89 

"Oh, we've been over that again and again and now 
you don't know." Such a teacher should restrain 
herself by saying, "What others have done I can do, 
if trying will do it. I will go over the matter again 
and again and still again." To a teacher who really 
schools herself to this attitude of mind, failure is al- 
most impossible. 

Patience, sympathy, and cheerfulness, these are 
all essential to the right spirit in giving individual 
instruction. Let no teacher who wishes to succeed 
underrate the value of any of these essentials. 

The Right Spirit is to be sought first. The teachers 
of the future will be those who believe that teach- 
ing is most of all a spiritual thing, a contact of mind 
with mind, of heart with heart. 

B. The Right Spirit must take the Right Direc- 
tion, or follow the Right Method with reference 

1. To Individual Work, 

2. To Class Work. 

In the preceding paragraphs the aim has been 
to show that by creating the right atmosphere in the 
room and the right atitude in herself, the teacher must 
seek to win the pupil's heart, and through his heart 
lead him to exert his will; for, as Dr. Harris well ob- 
serves, it is weakness of will rather than weakness of 
intellect that is the cause of the slow progress of the 
great majority of backward children. This leads us 
to the first step in the Right Method of Individual 
Instruction. 

The Pupil is Called to the Desk 

I. The teacher calls the pupil needing assistance 
to her side at the desk. Here the pupil is apart from 
the class but still in its presence. Here the teacher 
and child are comfortably seated side by side. Each 
is now ready for work. 



90 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

The Teacher Works to Remove the Most 
Elementary Difficulty 

II. In a low voice and with perhaps a pleasant 
word of encouragement or suggestion the teacher 
directs the mind of the pupil to some difficulty that 
is retarding him. This difficulty may be the result 
of failure to grasp some point that should have been 
grasped years before. For an eighth grade pupil, 
it may be a point that should have been mastered in 
the third grade. On this point, however far away 
it may be from the regular class work, the teacher 
must focus the mind of the child and her powers of 
teaching. Until these fundamental points are master- 
ed there can be no true progress. Under the all class 
method, the teacher rarely if ever finds out the diffi- 
culties that are retarding individual children. She 
knows that some of her children are slow and back- 
ward, but the reason for this slowness and backward- 
ness she does not know, nor can she ever know by 
using the all class method of instruction. 

The Pupil is Made Self=helpful 

III. The teacher leads the pupil to master the 
difficulties himself: 

1. By not telling him anything that by judicious 
questioning he can be led to discover for himself. If, 
however, the teacher finds the pupil has not the data 
in his mind from which to draw right conclusions, she 
tells him the necessary facts at once and does not 
waste precious time in trying to draw water from a 
dry well; telling at the right time is teaching. 

2. By not doing the pupil's work for him. Too 
often teachers show their pupils how to do things 
and wonder why the results of the showing are so poor, 
forgetting that the fundamental principle of education 



EFFECTIVE CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 91 

is self activity, that the pupil is educated only through 
what he does for himself. It is an easy thing for a 
teacher to say, "Don't you see how simple this matter 
is?" at the same time solving a problem or explain- 
ing a paragraph to the pupil, but it is quite a different 
thing to find out just what the pupil knows and with 
this knowledge as a basis lead him to see his way, 
and to do the work himself. One method is real 
teaching, the other is its counterfeit. 

It Teaches Pupils How to Study 

IV. Individual instruction furnishes an oppor- 
tunity to teach pupils how to study. Many pupils 
fall behind their classes because they do not know how 
to select the essential parts of a printed paragraph. 
They have never been taught to see the difference 
between the important and the unimportant. For 
this reason they cannot read intelligently ; they 
cannot recite intelligently in geography and history; 
and they often have difficulty in arithmetic because 
they cannot get the thought of the problems out of 
the "verbal husk." Through proper individual 
instruction they can be trained or led to master the 
printed page. 

Individual Instruction Should be Wholly Individual 

V. Individual work should be done with one 
pupil at a time. Group teaching, however small the 
group may be, is class teaching and has the defects 
of class teaching; namely, (a) the inability of the 
teacher to know that she is reaching each child's 
peculiar difficulty, (b) the tendency to regard difficul- 
ties as common to several children when in reality 
different phases of the same difficulty may be retard- 
ing as many different members of the group; where 
this is the case, every minute spent with one pupil 



92 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

trying to lead him to solve his phase of the difficulty 
is just so much time lost for the other members of 
the group, (c) and the reluctance of all children and 
especially of sensitive children to admit that they can- 
not see what their companions have said they could see. 
Group instruction will never enable the teacher to get 
close to the heart of the child and lead him to reveal 
himself. The presence of an audience has made 
many an able man seem to know almost nothing. 
"Stage fright" may be retarding some of your strong- 
est minds. Timidity has caused many a pupil to 
fail. The encouragement and aid that come through 
individual instruction will make many a timid pupil 
self-reliant. 

How the Teacher May Find the Pupils Who Need 
Individual Aid 

VI. During the class recitations the teacher 
should make note of the pupils who seem to fail be- 
cause they do not understand certain points. At 
the next individual period these pupils should be called 
to the desk for consultation and help. By examina- 
tion of the daily written work and of the tests that 
may be given from time to time, the teacher will 
be able to find the weak spots that must be strength- 
ened through individual work. A word of caution 
is here necessary. The teacher is to be the judge of 
who needs aid. She is not to wait for the pupils to 
ask for aid. If she pursues the latter plan, she will 
aid those who should be made to do the work them- 
selves and neglect those who really need the aid but 
who will never ask for it if left to take the initiative. 

Time to be Given to Individual Instruction 

VII. a. Rooms with an enrollment of less than 
forty-five or fifty pupils are taught by one teacher. 



EFFECTIVE CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 93 

Half the time may be given to individual work and 
the other half to class work. During the individual 
period the teacher will work with pupils in those sub- 
jects in which they are the weakest. Reading, arith- 
metic, English, geography and history will demand 
most of the time. 

b. In rooms of two or more classes half the time 
may be given to individual instruction and half to 
class work, the pupils reciting one day and receiving 
individual instruction the next. 

The Order of Individual Periods in the Daily Program 

VIII. Individual and class periods should 
alternate, a recitation period in a subject following an 
individual period in that subject although this order 
is not essential. When the teacher is giving individ- 
ual instruction the class should be preparing assigned 
work on an advance lesson. Teachers must take 
care to see that plenty of profitable work is assigned 
in advance. This does not mean, however, that after 
a pupil has properly prepared his day's task in one 
subject, he should not be allowed to take up some other 
subject, but in general the pupils will have all they can 
do to prepare for the regular lessons. 

The teacher must not make the error of thinking 
that the pupil she is holding out of class for individual 
work is losing ground. He is, in reality, gaining 
ground; for unless the difficulties that retard him are 
removed, he will never be able to take part in the class 
work on an equal footing with his mates. It is not 
the number of pages covered that indicates progress 
in class work, but the power on the part of all the pu- 
pils in the class to master the new problems that are 
presented each day. 



94 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Record of Work 

IX. The name of each pupil who receives aid 
should be recorded in a record book. Such a record 
will keep the teacher on the right track and will 
enable her to recall the steps by which she led a re- 
tarded mind from darkness into light. 

The Relation of Individual Work to Class Work 

I. Individual instruction makes for good class 
teaching. 

The late Dr. Hinsdale tells us in his "Art of Study" 
that "teaching is causing another to know." It is 
neither lesson hearing nor lesson presenting and the 
teacher is something more than a lesson hearer, or a 
lesson presenter. The teacher is the one who causes 
the pupil to know. The red schoolhouse days were 
days of the school-keeper or lesson hearer. 

The duty of the school-keeper was to hear the pupil 
recite assigned tasks; if the pupil knew his lessons, the 
knowing was the result of his own efforts; he was his 
own teacher; if he did not know, as was often the case, 
the lesson hearer passed him by with a reprimand 
or a blow. It was not the lesson hearer's duty to 
teach; he was to hear what the pupil knew. 

The lesson hearer, or school-keeper, has passed 
from the better class of schools and in his place we find 
the lesson presenter, a higher and better type and one 
whose work is founded, to a certain extent, on scien- 
tific principles. The lesson presenter cuts up knowl- 
edge into units and presents these units to the class. 
The class in turn is supposed to re-present these units 
in the recitation-lesson, or in the test, or examination. 
This presentation work is usually done with the class 
as a whole. After the teacher has presented the work 
he assumes that the different members of the class 



EFFECTIVE CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 95 

know the work or will know it after they have studied 
it. If failure results, this failure is assumed to be 
the fault of the individual pupil, and such failure is 
considered, in general, a disgrace and is usually pun- 
ished by detention after school. The aim of these 
after school periods is, in general, to teach the pupil that 
he must not fail. He must get his lessons somehow, 
by hook or by crook. So long as he can recite the 
teacher is satisfied; rarely does a teacher take pains 
to find out how the pupil prepares his lessons. Such 
an inquiry would often reveal the fact that many pu- 
pils are doing little or no independent work. The 
pupil's aim is to recite the day's lesson and get a good 
mark. Someone else may have done the work of 
preparation for him. It makes little difference to the 
teacher; her business is to present the lessons not to 
find out what effect the presentation has had on the 
individuals. 

This practice of ending the teaching process with 
the presentation of the lesson has resulted in a vast 
number of failures among pupils and in a vast amount 
of deception on the part of pupils. The pupil soon 
comes to see that the road to success lies along 
the way of good marks and he employs very ques- 
tionable means to obtain them. Now this practice 
of presenting lessons has been going on for a long 
time in our schools. Pupils of receptive minds and 
retentive memories have responded to it and they 
have been receiving the marks that signify excel- 
lence or efficiency in work, and a good many pupils 
of deceptive minds have been receiving these marks. 
While on the other hand, the pupils who are not quick 
to respond to class teaching have often found them- 
selves hopelessly wrecked and stranded. With the 
class method the pupil must either swim with the 
others or sink by himself. The helping hand of the 



96 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

teacher is rarely held out to him. If help is proffered 
after school hours it is given in the spirit of punish- 
ment rather than in the spirit of sympathetic help. 
The idea of giving this assistance as a regular part 
of the school work during school hours has dawned 
upon the minds of the very few in education. Where 
it has dawned the teacher is teaching and the pupils 
are being led to know and the aim is to teach so as to 
cause all to know. 

The presenter of lessons is like the planter who 
sows good seed on a field that has been poorly prepared 
for the sowing; some portions of the ground may re- 
turn a fair yield, while others will return almost none 
at all. Sowing double the amount of seed will not 
increase the yield. Attention must be given to the 
sterile and unfertile portions. These portions must 
be worked over and made fertile, and different por- 
tions will need different kinds of attention. By 
studying his soil and working it over the planter may 
produce a fairly uniform yield from all portions of his 
field, but such a yield will be the result of time and 
attention. 

In like manner the skillful and sympathetic teacher 
by studying the different members of her class can so 
cultivate the individual minds through individual work 
as to secure fairly uniform results from nearly all the 
pupils of the class. In short they will be ready to 
learn when she is ready to teach. Until they are so 
ready, class teaching will involve much waste. 

II. Individual instruction makes for good reci- 
tations. 

1. By making spirited recitations possible. 

2. By making class recitations possible. 
1. The end of individual instruction is to bring 

the different members of the class into line so that 
all may participate profitably in the class work. A 



EFFECTIVE CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 97 

recitation to accomplish results must be full of life, 
must move along toward some definite end, with 
every member of the class contributing to its progress 
to the full extent of his ability. In the recitation as 
ordinarily conducted, a great deal of time is wasted 
by the teacher in hearing pupils recite who are not 
prepared to recite. These pupils may be unprepared 
from different reasons, chief among which are in- 
sufficient study, failure to understand different points 
of the day's lessons, and inability to grasp the lesson 
because of failure to master previous lessons. The 
pupil who fails because of insufficient study should 
not be allowed to take class time to stumble along 
through a recitation, neither should he be given much 
time at the individual period. He, perhaps, needs a 
reprimand, perhaps, some good advice. This repri- 
mand or this advice should come early. The teacher 
should not allow the really able pupil to get be- 
hind before reminding him of his poor work. The 
point that needs to be emphasized here is, that often 
a teacher fails to distinguish between laziness and 
and some legitimate cause for lack of preparation. 
Find out if a pupil is really lazy before pronounc- 
ing him such. If the pupil is reprimanded it should 
not. be done before the class except in rare instances. 
The second cause is the failure to understand certain 
points in the day's lesson under consideration in the 
recitation. Ordinarily when the teacher finds such 
a case, he stops the recitation and proceeds to teach 
or explain the points that the pupil does not under- 
stand, wasting thereby the time of all the class for the 
sake of one pupil, and making the recitation a dull, 
devitalized and uninteresting affair. The correct way 
is to note the failure, if it is a serious one, and call the 
pupil up for individual instruction at the next individ- 
ual period, or if the failure is on a minor point, the 



98 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

teacher should call for a recitation from some pupil 
who can explain the difficulty. 

The third reason for the unpreparedness of the 
pupil is his incapacity. He is not able for one reason 
or another to do the work of the class. The teacher 
knows he is not able and the pupil knows it also. 
Notwithstanding this knowledge on the part of both, 
the teacher still continues to call the pupil for recita- 
tions knowing beforehand that he will fail. This 
course is a source of mortification to the class, to 
the teacher, and especially to the pupil. Everybody 
who has the least human sympathy suffers. Much 
precious time is wasted; no good results. A great 
deal of harm does result. No pupil was ever brought 
up to the class line by this method; many a pupil has 
been forced out of school. With the pupil who is far 
behind his class the teacher should have the greatest 
sympathy and patience. At first little class time should 
be given him. The teacher should, however, take 
pains to ask him such questions as she thinks he can 
answer, exercising great care not to let the pupil know 
that she is asking these questions because they are 
easy. But when the individual period comes it is 
with this pupil who is seemingly hopelessly behind 
that the teacher should work week after week and day 
after day. She must not, however, let him clog the 
recitation period with his inability. He will, if given 
proper individual attention become better able each 
day to take part and appreciate what is being threshed 
out in the class; and in time will, very likely, come to 
be one of the able members of the class. If, however, 
he should not show marked improvement, the teacher 
should not be discouraged; for by getting into sympa- 
thy with the pupil and by letting him know that some- 
one sympathizes with him and is ready to help him, 
the pupil, even though he should leave school, will 



EFFECTIVE CLASS-INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION 99 

leave a different pupil, with a different attitude toward 
the school, and toward mankind in general, from that 
he would have had if he had been crushed down and 
pushed out merely as one who was unfit to continue. 
This bringing the pupil into the right attitude is one 
of the greatest benefits of individual instruction. 

The teacher, then, will see that no class time is 
wasted by the lazy pupil, by the pupil who fails oc- 
casionally or by the pupil who fails chronically. The 
individual period is the time at which to deal effectually 
with these three classes of pupils, especially the two 
last named. 

2. Individual instruction makes a class recita- 
tion possible. 

In the ordinary class the pupils are constantly 
falling out of line. In the class where effective individ- 
ual instruction is employed the pupils are constantly 
being brought into line. Pressure is constantly being 
removed. The recitation is for all who are able to 
take part and all are being made able to take part. 

In the ordinary recitation a large part of the 
reciting is done by the active, motor-minded pupils. 
These pupils are the joy of the teacher's heart. 
They have receptive and retentive memories and 
can repeat all that the teacher and the book have 
taught them. They do from a half to three-fourths 
of all the recitation work in the majority of schools, 
and they usually constitute from a tenth to an eighth 
of the class membership. The teacher working with 
these few pupils thinks her work is a success because 
the pupils know. The other pupils do not need to 
know, and they soon find it out. Under these circum- 
stances it is really surprising that the mass of pupils 
come out of school knowing as much as they do. 
But with the teacher who uses individual instruction 
effectively it is different. She knows each pupil, 



100 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

knows where he is weak and why he is weak, and she 
gives him an opportunity to become strong by allow- 
ing him to take part as soon as possible in the recita- 
tion work up to the full extent of his ability. She 
teaches the class that the recitation is for all and that 
all must be ready on every point, to continue, correct, 
or elaborate the discussion. All who are not able are 
candidates for individual instruction until they are 
able. There is during the recitation, no scolding, 
no nagging, no scoring of pupils who fail. If the pupil 
does not know he should say so and be commended 
for so saying. 

The teacher should bear in mind that when she 
is working with the four or five " brightest" pupils 
in her class, she is really doing the poorest kind of 
individual work in the poorest kind of way. These 
pupils do not need her attention, and still they are 
getting nearly all of it. The other pupils are really 
doing nothing for the larger part of the recitation 
period. Instead of being a class recitation period it 
is really an exhibition period for a few of the quicker 
minds. In a grade of thirty pupils not long ago, 
the writer heard a recitation in history in which four 
pupils did almost all the work. Not more than ten 
of the pupils in the class took any part. The other 
twenty sat for twenty minutes and apparently listen- 
ed. A great many of them were far away in dream- 
land. By the ordinary observer this recitation would 
have been rated successful, and the teacher would 
have been congratulated on her bright class of pupils. 
This recitation is but a type of the majority of all the 
recitations in the public schools. The larger part of 
the classes take little or no part and they go on day 
after day and week after week in this way. The 
teacher never diagnoses the individual cases. With 
her the pupils are either " quick," "slow," or "medi- 



TRAINING CLASSES FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 101 

ocre"; and the mediocre and slow continue so because 
they have no one to help them to become otherwise. 
Individual instruction is the complement of class 
instruction. It makes class teaching possible by pre- 
paring each individual mind to receive the instruction; 
it makes the class recitation possible by giving all the 
individuals the power to participate in the class dis- 
cussions. 



102 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Eight 

THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS FOR 
INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 

The teacher must know the child in order to teach 
him. This is one of the fundamental concepts of 
educational philosophy and we have only to point to 
the great teachers, Pestalozzi and Froebel among the 
others, to confirm its soundness. Knowing the child 
is vastly different from knowing about the child. 
This latter knowledge is an efficient aid to real teach- 
ing and should not in any way be slighted, but it is 
not enough; there must be also that contact of soul 
with soul, which brings teacher and pupil together and 
makes teaching a truly vital and vitalizing process. 

One of the chief needs of the schools to-day is 
such personal knowledge of the child on the part of 
the teacher as will tend to meet his individual needs. 
In order to show that this need is a real one, a set of 
questions was sent to superintendents of schools 
of many representative cities and towns throughout 
the United States. The object of one of the ques- 
tions was to ascertain the opinion of the superintend- 
ents as to whether the teachers as ordinarily trained 
in the normal schools know how to reach i. e. teach 
individual children. If superintendents generally 
answered this question in the negative, it would be 
fair to assume that the training of teachers in normal 
schools was inadequate. If they answered in the 
affirmative, then the assumption would be that the 
fault lay in the application of the teaching force in 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 103 

the schools themselves or in other words, in a mis- 
application of the power that the normal schools 
had supplied in the way of trained teachers. 

These questions were submitted to superintend- 
ents of recognized standing and of considerable 
experience in the work of school administration, 
representing communities all the way from the city 
of several hundred thousand in population down 
to the town of only a few thousand. Thus the re- 
plies represent every kind of condition in public schools. 
To the question: "Do you think that the teachers 
as ordinarily trained in our normal schools know 
how to reach the individual child?" fifty-six an- 
swers were received. Thirty-four of these were in 
the negative, i. e., to the effect that the teachers as 
ordinarily trained in the normal schools do not know 
how to teach individual children. Fourteen of the 
answers were not interpreted either for or against, 
although several might be interpreted as implying 
that normal school training was more or less defective 
in the line of emphasizing the value of individual 
teaching. 

Seven of the answers were interpreted in the 
affirmative to the effect that normal school training 
is adequate. These replies represent the opinions 
of superintendents from thirty states and the District 
of Columbia. They include the largest states in all 
sections of the country. The opinion of the superin- 
tendents represented is overwhelmingly that the 
normal schools are not training the teachers for indi- 
vidual instruction. There is good reason to believe 
that a more extended inquiry would bring practi- 
cally the same results. 

It is worth while to study some of these replies. 
Such a study will be of aid in forming a proper con- 
ception of just what the need is along the line of train- 



104 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

ing for individual work and of what ought to be done 
to meet this need. First let us present the observa- 
tions of superintendents who think that the normal 
school is not training teachers so that they know how 
to meet the needs of individual children. A superin- 
tendent from a representative Massachusetts city 
writes : 

1. "I am sure that they (the teachers) do not understand how or 
realize the importance of reaching the individual child. It seems to 
me that this matter should be an essential part of their training from 
the practical as well as the theoretical side." 

2. "I think," writes another superintendent from a large city in 
the same state, "the teachers generally, no matter where they are 
trained, do not know how to reach the individual child. I think that 
the atmosphere of the normal schools and also of the schools themselves 
in which the teachers are engaged is in both cases unsympathetic so far 
as the importance of the individual child is concerned. The individual 
is the very basis of the Froebelian idea and when I get teachers trained 
in a kindergarten training school I almost always get the right attitude 
towards this question. However, as most superintendents and prin- 
cipals look upon this subject, it does not take long to knock that idea 
out of the teacher. 

"There is another difficulty, and that is the radical, and as I hold 
them, unpractical views of those who do advocate concentration on 
the individual. A teacher cannot, in a class of fifty, in the ordinary 
arrangement of that class, jump to the ideal; but usually the agitator 
says that she can, and she therefore sets him down as impractical. 
But she can do something. She can divide her class into two, three, 
or four parts, or she can have special pupils for special consideration, 
and she can gradually lead up to an individual consideration of pupils. " 

The observations of these two superintendents 
bring out clearly the need of individual training, 
also the attitude of both the normal schools and of 
many superintendents toward individual work. The 
second statement is sound in stressing Froebelian 
principles as the basis for giving the teachers the right 
idea of the child's individuality. The division of 
classes suggested is, of course, in line with the special 
plans of grading suggested in another section of this 
study. 

The writer has in mind a city superintendent 
who forbade one of his teachers to give individual 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 105 

instruction to needy pupils on the ground that it made 
such pupils dependent. He failed, of course, to dis- 
tinguish between coaching and teaching, and deprived 
the teacher of the opportunity of doing much good. 

3. "I should say," writes a superintendent from Indiana, "that 
the teachers, as they come from the normal school, have only a theoreti- 
cal preparation for work with individual children. I find even after 
they have practiced under a skillful teacher for a half year, that they 
still are slow in applying their psychological and pedagogical knowledge. 
This, of course, is not at all strange and only experience directed in 
such a way that the individual is emphasized can strengthen this 
weakness." 

A superintendent from Alabama writes: 

4. " Normal training is deficient in this respect. " 

One from California: 

5. "Not nearly as well as they should (be trained)." 

A Connecticut superintendent, a recognized au- 
thority on school administration, has this to say: 

6. "Only the teacher of natural teaching disposition ever cares 
for the individual, which is the essence of good individual teaching. 
Normal school training tends to destroy this love for persons, but does 
not always or even often destroy it." 

A superintendent of a large city in Illinois writes 
as follows: 

7. "Of course it depends upon the normal school, the instructors 
in some giving considerable attention to the individual child idea, but 
I think the majority fail in this respect and either never acquire this 
ability or else the first year is spent floundering about in a vain endeavor 
to adapt themselves. One difficulty with normal teachers is that they 
are so well satisfied with themselves that they are unable to appreciate 
the peculiar needs of individual pupils in the public schools." 

8. "I have to state," says a Kentucky superintendent, that the 
teachers as ordinarily trained in our normal schools scarcely ever know 
how to deal with the individual child." 

Again from a Michigan superintendent comes the 
statement : 

9. "I am quite strongly convinced that our normal schools do 
not train teachers sufficiently in the direction of reaching the individual 
child. The emphasis, as I observe it, is placed almost exclusively on 
class instruction. While this is important it should not exclude in- 
struction in individual work." 



106 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Another Massachusetts superintendent observes : 

10. "Our normal courses are too short to give their students any 
great skill in handling any but the generally normal child and their 
methods are bound to be crude. They are not skillful in their work. 
If they know thoroughly the underlying principles, they will in time 
become skillful in adapting them to the need of the pupil. " 

In criticism of this opinion it may be said that 
experience has shown that very few experienced 
teachers have any adequate idea of what individual 
teaching means and that the more experience they 
gain in class work the further away they find them- 
selves from the right idea of individual teaching. 
Furthermore very few of the normal schools give any 
knowledge of the underlying principles of individual 
instruction and still fewer give any opportunity for 
the apprentice-teacher to apply such principles under 
skilled supervision. 

It is unnecessary to give more opinions from super- 
intendents who think that teachers are not adequate- 
ly trained in our normal schools to do individual teach- 
ing. The opinions quoted show the general tendency 
of thought in this direction. 

There are, on the other hand, a few superintendents 
who think that our normal school teachers are ade- 
quately trained. It is only fair to give them a hearing. 

A well-known Massachusetts superintendent gives 
this answer to the question we have been considering: 

"It is a very difficult matter for a normal school to make veteran 
teachers in a two years' course. It can do little more than put the 
young teachers on the right road and trust to experience under proper 
supervision to keep her there. I think that the Massachusetts normal 
schools are working in general along right lines." 

Another Massachusetts superintendent of ability 
and long experience replies: 

"Judging from the work of the Normal School I answer 

'Yes.'" 

A Colorado superintendent writes of these teachers 
that "at the time of their graduation they are just 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 107 

beginning to know": while the superintendent of a 
large New England city answers emphatically: "I 
most certainly do." 

Out of the fifty-six opinions, there are only seven 
that would seem to endorse the present training of 
teachers in the direction of reaching the individual 
child. 

It may be stated that the author of the first of the 
four opinions just given is a firm believer in class in- 
struction and it would be natural for him to think that 
teachers trained wholly for class work were sufficiently 
trained for individual teaching. The three other 
superintendents who express opinions favorable to 
the present system of training are, however, strongly 
in favor of individual work as an aid to class work. 
It is gratifying to know that these few superintend- 
ents, at least, have found their teachers prepared to 
give individual instruction. 

A visit to schools in different parts of the country 
will, however, convince anyone who has a correct idea 
of what individual teaching means that not only does 
the young teacher fresh from the normal school have 
little idea of the methods and aims of individual 
instruction, but the teacher of experience is, in ninety- 
nine cases out of every hundred, even more ignorant. 
Nor is this strange when we take into account that the 
principles governing the technique of individual teach- 
ing have not been taught to the normal school graduate 
nor are they available in printed form to the older 
teachers. 

What the Normal Schools are Doing in the Way of 
Training Teachers for Individual Work 

The next step in the study is to find what the 
directors of normal schools are doing and thinking 
along the line of preparing teachers to meet the needs 



108 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

of individual children. To this end questionaires 
were sent to many of the normal school principals 
in the different states. 

They were asked to answer along with several 
others this question: "What is done in your normal 
school to train pupil-teachers to teach pupils who for 
one reason or another need individual aid?" The 
principals replying to this question represent nor- 
mal schools in thirty different states, so it is safe to 
assume that the facts stated present conditions as they 
exist in all parts of the United States. It is worth 
while to consider some of these answers as they pre- 
sent information that is nowhere else available. A 
number of these replies are here given. 

1. "Instruction in child study has dealt especially with these 
(pupils): a room (practice training) for backward children has been 
maintained; girls in regular practice training rooms are especially 
charged with work with such pupils." 

2. "The students spend twenty weeks in the public schools. 
During that time they are constantly required to give individual help 
to backward pupils. 

3. "In the course in school economy, the normal student's atten- 
tion is called to the class of children referred to above. Their needs are 
discussed and suggestions are made for meeting these needs. In the 
training department such pupils are taken out for individual tutoring, 
and that seems to be helpful. They are examined as to their eyes, ears, 
and teeth as well as for adenoid growths, and recommendations are made 
to the parents for their correction. When such corrections have been 
made, the attention of the student teacher is called to it so that she may 
watch results. " 

4. "In my own course in pedagogy, I place a good deal of emphasis 
on the needs of individuals, and discuss with my students several plans 
for individual instruction that have been most favorably received by 
educators. In addition to this we give as much attention as possible 
to individual instruction in the practice school but not in a particularly 

systematic way. In the school in this city, each of our seniors 

has an opportunity to work one week under the group and individual 
system." 

5. "A great deal of attention is given in the practice school at 

, to the individual, both by himself, in groups, and in his class. 

Individual pupils are assigned to pupil teachers. The pupil teacher 
has groups of children, and she works with divisions and with a whole 
class. This is what the principal of the practice school says upon this 
point: 'The pupil teachers in the practice school begin work with 
individual pupils as soon as they begin their practice school work, and 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 109 

continue it throughout the course. At the same time, however, they 
have an opportunity to work with a division, or an entire class at times 
that they may develop power to handle a class and get a standard of 
good grade work." 

6. "As part of her psychology work, each pupil makes several 
minute studies of individuals. In the training school, she will assist 
individual pupils as occasions arise for such help." 

7. "We have individual instruction where the needs of the pupils 
require it and make some adapted applications of the Batavia system." 

8. "They (apprentice teachers) are taught theory and given 
practice." 

9. "In our training schools there are not enough defective pupils 
to need the individual aid that you mention; at the same time we con- 
stantly assign pupil teachers to the business of bringing up pupils who 
are back in their work, due to sickness or absence or any other reason : 
it is very interesting to us how normal pupils are as regards their per- 
sonal qualifications and progress." 

10. "We assign such pupils to training teachers who give them 
individual instruction and make special study of their cases." 

11. "The pupil teacher is directed by the critic-teacher and the 
superintendent of the practice school as to the best way to aid the back- 
ward pupil; sometimes this is done in class hours; sometimes out of 
class. We are giving more emphasis than ever before to training pupils 
in the fine art of study, especially those who seem never to have dis- 
covered how." 

12. "Personally I do not believe in training to the extent that it 
seems to be believed in by New Englanders and by some of the new and 
youthful professors of education in teachers' colleges of universities. 
I think the dog and pony show illustrates the "high water mark" of 
training. Our effort here is to secure high intelligence and the greatest 
possible adaptability so as to accustom students to rely upon their own 
initiative for difficult situations. We, therefore, do very little of train- 
ing for the instruction of individual children." 

It is hard to see just how the conclusion here 
given follows from the premises. 

13. "Very little more than is done or attempted in any school 
where the inadequacy of the 'all class' method is appreciated, but no 
systematic or organized effort is made to meet the need. We do pro- 
vide for some of the kind of work suggested in your next question but 
it has not been done in a very general or regular way." 

14. "The Critic Teachers and Principal make a close study of 
individuals and their needs when they are in the practice schools, and 
advise with the 'Pupil Teachers' concerning these matters, sometimes 
suggesting and sometimes directing that individual help be given where 
needed. Our senior normal students teach during the entire senior 
year, both class and individual teaching being their portion. We thus 
endeavor to habituate them to a thoughtful and systematic procedure 
in relation to the 'one' not the 'many,' although, of course, the latter 
is ever a problem in schools everywhere." 



110 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

15. "We follow substantially the plan you suggest in '2' and I 
believe it good for both pupil and teacher." 

16. "The work in psychology has this in mind. The pupil teach- 
ers are given turns at such kind of practice teaching. The supervisor 
of practice looks after this as well as the regular class teaching by pupil 
teachers." 

17. "We stress this kind of work. Some student teachers give 
a large part of their time during the spring term to this kind of work. 
The children are taken to a separate room and given this kind of work 
while others are reciting to supervising teachers or some other teacher. " 

18. "Study, observation, and some practice in connection with 
Chapter XIV, Bagley's Classroom Management, also a consideration 
of Pueblo, Pocatello, Shearer, and New York City group plans. We 
give special aid at the study lesson and special attention at the recita- 
tion lesson. 

"Small groups of such pupils are formed wherever necessary and 
students teach them under the direction of critic teachers." 

19. "Special effort is made to help individuals in our training 
schools and a large part of it is done by students of the normal school 
who are practicing in the various grades. The aim is to have each child 
advance as fast as possible." 

20. "Additional student teachers are assigned so that they may 
be taught to give individual instruction and that it may be given in the 
least time possible, consistent with thorough work." 

21. "In the first place our student teachers understand that in 
the lower grades in the elementary schools, pupils should be taught 
to some extent individually even when they are taught in classes, and 
that some of the class instruction should be individual direction and 
guidance at their seats or at the teacher's desk. Besides, especially 
in the elementary grades, we usually have two or three groups of pupils 
who need a great deal of individual attention. Certain students are 
assigned a group of pupils to be taught by them individually in quite 
small groups. 

22. "We have no systematic organization to train teachers to 
teach retarded pupils. We train them to recognize retarded pupils and 
to group them and to help them individually all that is possible in order 
that they may be given something helpful, but we have no systematically 
developed room for this specific purpose. I am inclined to think it 
may come to that, but on the other hand it looks to me as if the general 
public school teacher had to be trained to recognize these pupils and 
to arrange their work so that she may be able to give them individual 
aid. With the exception of the large cities, special teachers for retarded 
pupils are not going to be employed, at least in the near future, so we 
shall have to work it out along with the regular pupils that are of normal 
standard. 

23. "General study of conditions which lead to defective work in 
individual children is made a definite part of their (pupil teachers) last 
term of psychology. Each student is given certain special students 
(pupils) to study while teaching in the training schools. Determined 
effort is made to interest each student teacher in backward and special 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 111 

24. "i. Particular attention is given to the psychology of individual 
differences as stated in Thorndike's Principles of Teaching. 

"ii. Even small classes are usually sectioned on the basis of ability 
and practice teachers are enabled to help in this sectioning. 

"hi. The meeting of individual needs of backward pupils is as- 
signed to practice teachers. 

"iv. This individual coaching is closely supervised." 

A summary of the foregoing statements reveals 
indications of progress in the line of attention to the 
needs of individual pupils. 

The needs of such children are studied in courses 
in child study, pedagogy, school economy, or in psy- 
chology at several of the normal schools. One normal 
school makes a special study of the various plans that 
have been devised for better adapting school work to the 
needs of the individual. One, at least, has the teachers 
pay particular attention to detecting physical defects 
of eye, ear, nose, or throat of the pupil, and when such 
defects have been remedied, the pupil teachers watch 
for results in the improvement of the work of such 
pupils. Two of the schools report that each of the pupil 
teachers makes a detailed study of several individual 
children. In some schools the pupil teachers are 
taught to reach the individual by breaking the classes 
into small groups; in others the pupil teachers take 
needy pupils to other rooms for special help; in still 
other schools, a modified use of the Batavia System 
is in vogue, under which the pupil teacher teaches 
individual pupils in the regular class room while the 
room teacher is engaged in class work, thus antici- 
pating the plan advocated in another section of this 
study. In a few schools serious thought seems to 
have been given to this question which as one school 
man puts it, is the "central problem" of school instruc- 
tion. In such schools the individual work is care- 
fully planned for and as carefully supervised. Some 
normal-school men confuse individual teaching with 
tutoring and coaching. Individual teaching if rightly 



112 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

done is neither tutoring, nor coaching. Tutoring and 
coaching consist largely in helping the pupils along, 
in doing their thinking for them; individual instruc- 
tion never does this; if rightly employed, it helps 
the pupils to help themselves by developing power to 
think. The former kind of work makes for weakness, 
the latter, for strength. 

A Plan for Training Teachers 

It is clear to those who have given the problem 
much study that if real progress is to be made in the 
way of training teachers to reach individual pupils 
effectively some definite plan of procedure must be 
mapped out for attaining the desired end. Such 
a plan is suggested in the following question which 
was one of those in the questionaire to superintend- 
ents and also in that sent normal school principals. 
It reads thus: 

"Would not the plan of having the pupil teachers, 
as a part of their training for a few months at least, 
do individual work with the needy and backward 
pupils (such work to be done during the regular school 
hours while the room teacher is at work with the class) 
result in giving such teachers a broader and better idea 
of the teaching process and bring them into closer 
sympathy with children in general?" 

Of the fifty-six superintendents who replied to 
this question forty-eight answered in the affirmative; 
i. e. to the effect that such a plan of procedure would 
result in training pupil-teachers to better meet in- 
dividual needs. One superintendent answered in the 
negative and seven gave answers too indefinite to be 
interpreted either for or against the plan. Of the thirty- 
four normal-school principals answering the question, 
twenty-one answered in the affirmative, three in the 
negative, while ten answers were such as " probably" 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 113 

or indefinite explanations that could not be counted 
either for or against the plan. It is plain that even 
if we should count the answers rated as " indefinite" 
as negative, a large majority of the superintendents 
and the normal school men are in favor of some such 
plan for giving the apprentice teachers more definite 
training in dealing with individual children. 

Many of these answers are worth quoting. A 
number from each group are given: 

1. "The plan suggested is in some measure carried out in our 
practice school. I am in hearty accord with the idea." 

2. "Certainly." 

3. "Doubtless." 

4. "It would be an excellent plan to give each pupil teacher some 
practice in giving individual instruction to pupils whether backward 
or not. A clearer view of the psychology of learning would thus be 
revealed to the teacher." 

5. "In my judgment the plan suggested would result in great 
gain to the slower pupils. In fact, I have much admired the Batavia 
plan in this respect." 

8. "Yes: I think such work could be done with the practice 
teachers and we often do some of this work with practice teachers. A 
pupil teacher is detailed to do work with a backward pupil because of 
some defect, having lost time, defective eyes, ears, or brain. Some- 
times two or three pupils of this sort are given instruction together. " 

7. "The normal schools find it difficult to secure facilities for prac- 
tice under which they can train teachers to handle individual pupils 
as well as classes. Not one practice school in forty in America is suffi- 
cient to the situation." 

8. "Certainly. All normal students should come to understand 
that many pupils in every school require considerable individual in- 
struction and that the teacher must know her pupils individually and 
adapt her instruction to them. Even though a class should be as well 
graded as practicable, the fact that a dozen or twenty pupils are taught 
together in a class should not obscure the duty of the teacher to know 
the individual needs and progress of her pupils and have individual help 
and guidance in view." 

9. "Certainly We've tried it. " 

10. "It would be a capital idea. We cannot do it for lack of 
room." 

11. "Yes. This is what we do. We stress this idea, 'Teach 
children, not books.'" 

12. "We do this very thing. This individual work of the pupil 
teacher precedes her class work. " 

13. "Yes, undoubtedly." 



114 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

14. "We do this and encourage our student teachers to do all 
they can along that line. " 

15. "It is a very excellent idea and it is practical." 

16. "I think the plan would yield good results. We have found 
it does whenever we have been able to work in that direction. " 

17. "Our plan suggested above provides for this; but we do not 
limit the work to the 'backward.' We endeavor to make the matter 
of classification of pupils flexible in the better sense; therefore many of 
the pupils are able to earn an extra promotion by receiving a little help . 
It does not seem desirable to limit the teachers so-called extra help to 
the Retarded or to the Born-shorts; the important thing is to keep each 
child educatively busy up to the limit of his powers and capabilities, — 
not merely 'busy/ however. In my judgment the Normal School that 
does not provide for this kind of training of its students falls short, very 
short, of a fairly good ideal." 

18. "My answer is: Perhaps so. But the nature of our situa- 
tion here is such that we could not get very many students to participate 
in giving instruction to individual children. Students here are very 
independent. They, up to the present time, get the best positions in 
the profession throughout a territory about one hundred and fifty to 
two hundred miles in extent. They have to leave us before any such 
specialization is attainable. Moreover, the health and general tone of 
the children in our part of the state are so good and the means of classi- 
fication such that there would be little call for the special training which 
your question refers to. And even if such special instruction were 
necessary in the actual school, I do not see how we could attain very 
desirable results by such training. In our academic classes we occa- 
sionally call weak students or very bright ones aside and have them 
individually coached a httle; and pretty nearly every day some of our 
teachers have some students remaining after school hours to receive 
special help, but this practice is quite common in the schools of Missouri, 
and does not, as it seems to me, need very much attention in the Nor- 
mal School. It is such a natural thing. It results from good intelli- 
gence and sympathetic attitude towards those taught." 

It may be said by way of comment on the views 
just expressed, that the occasional help referred to is 
in the great majority, i. e. almost all schools, so occasion- 
al as to be of slight account. Furthermore the intelli- 
gence and naturalness attendant upon keeping pupils 
after school to learn what the school during the regular 
hours has not given them a fair chance to learn, may 
well be challenged. The teacher who has been well 
trained in the principles of individual instruction 
will be able to find a more natural as well as a more 
intelligent way of reaching needy pupils than by keep- 
ing them after school hours. 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 115 

19. "I see no objection to your proposition to have a teacher 
assigned to the needy and backward pupils. At the same time our 
experience would lead us to think that the number of needy and back- 
ward pupils is not very large in the majority of schools and that the 
conception of a need of individual instruction is very easily exaggerated. 
The best plan that we have found is to classify each student in work 
that he can take in the elementary schools according to his progress 
and ability in each subject. This is possible if one has a uniform pro- 
gram so that arithmetic is taught all at the same hour and other sub- 
jects likewise." 

20. "No. The great need of girls who come to this Normal 
School to become teachers is a broad, comprehensive knowledge of chil- 
dren as a whole, — as a type of mankind; not unusual children in any 
respect, peculiar or subnormal children, but plain, matter of fact, every 
day children. It is correct neither psychologically nor pedagogically, 
to have beginners in any form of learning, take up, at first, exceptions. 
You people who think so are not educationally sound. Neither the 
race nor the individual works upon these fines. Pupil teachers have no 
breadth of view. They are selfish, egotistical, and provincial in their 
interests. When they have been taught general conceptions concerning 
children, let them begin to take up the peculiar work of the care of the 
needy and backward children." 

21. "No. — Just the contrary. The pupil teacher needs contact 
with numbers of children rather than with a few individuals." 

22. "I do not believe in this method to any large extent." 

The Technique of Individual Instruction 

The real artist gets close to his canvas and a 
knowledge of the technique of his art enables hirn to 
give an effective touch now here, now there, and to bring 
his whole work nearer the ideal. He works now on 
this individual part, now on that, with a view to the 
greater unity of the whole. It must be so with the 
artist teacher. The knowledge of the technique of 
the art of teaching must lead him to touch now this 
pupil now that pupil in such a way that each may be 
brought unto unity with the class. In this way class 
work may become a harmonious work of art. 

There is a technique of individual teaching, 
a knowledge of which, combined with the knowledge 
of the technique of class teaching, will enable the 
teacher by intelligent practice to so touch the minds 
of the individuals in the class as to make the class 
work a unity. Some of the important principles 



116 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

governing the technique of individual instruction 
have been rather definitely formulated. These prin- 
ciples must be mastered by the teacher who would do 
effective individual work. Here are a few of these 
principles : 

1. First, the aim of individual teaching is to 
develop power in the mind of the pupil taught, without 
reference to any standard other than the pupil's own 
best good. This, of course, must be the only aim of 
individual teaching in the special school for defective 
children. In the regular school, however, this primary 
aim may be supplemented by the secondary aim: 
to bring about class unity. Class unity is very different 
from class uniformity. Class unity does not mean 
that every pupil will be able to do what every 
other pupil in the class can do. It merely means that 
each pupil is so taught that he can pursue the class 
work with profit. 

2. Individual teaching must begin where the 
pupil has real knowledge. It is to go back until it 
finds the pupil's preperception or apperception mass 
and there begin to build. Recognition of this prin- 
ciple is fundamental to success in individual teaching; 
yet failure to recognize it is the most common fault of 
teachers who employ individual instruction. They are 
so anxious for the pupils to progress rapidly that they 
help them on the lesson of the day, and, as the pupil has 
no sure foundation on which to build, such individual 
teaching is largely a waste of time. The teacher who 
would really teach a needy child must go back, back, 
back until she strikes the rock of real knowledge 
in the mind of the child. Thus a teacher may need 
to teach an eighth grade pupil some principle that 
should have been mastered in the fifth, fourth, or even 
the third grade. This is what many individual teach- 
ers fail to do, and this is why they fail. There must 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 117 

be a solid foundation before there can be a permanent 
superstructure. 

3. The teacher must lead the pupil to master the 
difficulties for himself. This is done by not telling him 
anything that he can be led by judicious questioning 
to discover for himself. If, however, the teacher 
finds the pupil has not sufficient data in his mind 
from which to draw right conclusions, she tells him the 
necessary facts at once. Telling at the right time is 
true teaching. Furthermore, the teacher does noth- 
ing for the pupil that he can do for himself. It is, 
of course, much easier for the teachers to show pupils 
how to do certain things than it is to lead their pupils 
to do the things for themselves. To say to a pupil — 
"This is the way. Don't you see how it is done?" 
at the same time doing the work for the pupil re- 
quires little effort from the teacher. Such procedure 
gives the teacher practice but leaves the pupil weaker 
than before. It is quite a different thing to find out 
just what a pupil knows on some point and with this 
knowledge as a basis, lead him to master some new and 
more difficult thing. It is hard and often slow work, 
but it counts. The development method is true teach- 
ing; the showing method is its counterfeit. 

4. The teacher must discover the pupils who 
need aid; she must not wait for the pupils to ask 
for aid. If the teacher's work is wholly individual 
she must hold frequent conferences with the regular 
class teacher with regard to the needs of different 
pupils. She may also now and then spend the whole 
or a part of the recitation period watching the regular 
class work in order that she may see just what the 
different pupils are doing in class work. This will 
give her a better basis for individual work. The class 
teacher will, of course, keep a list of those pupils 
whom she is to refer to the individual teacher with 



1 18 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

notes as to their difficulties for the guidance of the 
individual teacher. Examination of the daily written 
work, and also of the tests will reveal the weak points 
of many pupils. It is really astonishing how little the 
ordinary class teacher knows of the weak points of 
the individual members of her class. This lack of 
knowledge results from not studying the pupils indi- 
vidually. Such individual study is a requisite to 
effective teaching. 

There are, of course, many other ways to dis- 
cover the deficiencies of different pupils. The chief 
thing is, however, for the individual teacher to find 
those pupils who most need her aid. If she pursues 
the policy of waiting for pupils to ask for aid she will 
find herself aiding many pupils who really need no 
aid and neglecting others who need aid most but will 
never ask for it, if left to take the initiative. 

It may, however, be well at some period during 
the day, or perhaps at two or three periods during 
the week, to give opportunity for any pupil to ask for 
aid. Such periods may do much to combat the idea 
that the individual periods are for the slow pupils only. 

5. The teacher must take a positive, patient, 
sympathetic attitude towards the pupil to be helped. 
There is no greater motive to effort in any line than to 
have someone say "I believe in you." The teacher 
must believe in the pupil, must believe that he is 
going to improve and must be on the watch for even 
slight manifestations of improvement; yet she must 
not be impatient if these improvements are not appar- 
ent even after weeks or months of work. The sound- 
ness of this principle is proved by the work with men- 
tally defective children whose improvement is often due 
to years of patient endeavor on the part of the teacher. 
It is the positive, patient, sympathetic attitude that 
does much to make the individual work effective. 



TRAINING TEACHERS FOR INDIVIDUAL TEACHING 119 

6. Individual instruction as a rule should be 
given in the regular schoolroom, in the presence of the 
class but apart from it. The individual teacher calls 
the pupil needing aid to her desk; she does not take 
him from the room. He works in the presence of his 
mates and after a few minutes of work he returns to 
his seat among them and another pupil takes his place 
at the individual teacher's desk. In this principle is in- 
volved the psychology of class membership with all that 
it means to the individual pupil. The pupils who are 
sent from the room for individual help are differen- 
tiated from the other members of the class and they 
feel it. The classroom is the child's school home and 
he should be kept in it so far as possible. Furthermore, 
the teacher who receives pupils for individual instruc- 
tion in a room apart from the regular classroom can- 
not know the pupils as she can by seeing them and 
working with them in the regular classroom. Of 
course, it must be admitted that individual instruction 
given by a second teacher outside of the regular 
classroom will be productive of valuable results; yet, 
we believe that the contention above made will be 
borne out by facts gained from experience. 

7. The teacher should as a rule help only one 
pupil at a time. This is the only way to give real 
individual instruction. Two or more pupils make 
a class and unless they are weak on exactly the same 
point, one must wait while the other works. 

These are some of the fundamental principles 
which must be observed if a teacher is to succeed 
in individual teaching. The significance of these 
principles is rarely if ever understood by teachers in 
general. The normal schools must teach these prin- 
ciples and emphasize their importance, if the graduates 
of these schools are to be effective individual teachers. 



120 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Nine 
ADJUSTMENT OR UNGRADED CLASSES 

When our schools are adjusted to the needs of 
individual children there will be, in addition to the 
regular classes which will care for the great majority, 
Rapid or Promotion Classes for the gifted pupils 
and Adjustment or Ungraded Classes for the retarded 
or slow, but not abnormal pupils. Goddard's study 
showed that about 15 per cent, of the pupils in the 
first six grades of the public school system he investi- 
gated were in need of adjustment classes. 

The individual supervisor, or as someone has 
called her, the class mother, or life-saver, will be the 
mediator between the regular classes and these special 
classes, taking care to see that no pupil is out of adjust- 
ment. 

The Mannheim system, as we have already 
pointed out, makes provision for the slower pupils 
in a special division of so-called parallel classes, and 
this plan has been adopted in some other cities in 
Germany and in a few other countries. Associate 
Superintendent Straubenmiller of New York City 
suggests in the New York City School Report for 1910, 
a modification of this plan for New York City. 

The general plan, however, in this country is to 
provide for such pupils so-called Ungraded Classes, 
corresponding very closely in organization to the old 
country school. 

These ungraded or adjustment classes, when they 
are properly organized, are for the normal pupils only. 
The aim should be primarily to enable the pupils placed 



ADJUSTMENT OR UNGRADED CLASSES 121 

in them to strengthen their weak points so that event- 
ually they can be returned to the regular classes; 
these classes should also be attended by such pupils 
as may be a little out of adjustment, due, perhaps, 
to sickness or a change of residence. There can be 
no better name for them than adjustment classes. 
The teacher of such a class is the regular adjuster 
and the individual teacher or supervisor, is the special 
adjuster. There has been a loss somewhere, somehow, 
and these skilled adjusters are making it good. 

In a large school there should be at least two of 
these " adjustment classes"; one composed of pupils 
representing the first four grades, the other of those of 
the last four grades. It should be kept in mind that 
these adjustment classes in no way correspond to the 
so-called ungraded classes in New York City which 
are really classes for mentally defective pupils and 
would much better be called ' ' accommodation classes " ; in 
them the school work is arranged to accommodate men- 
tally defective pupils. In the ' ' adj ustment class ' ' the pu- 
pils are being fitted to work in the normal classes, while 
in the Promotion or Rapid Classes of which we have 
spoken elsewhere, the gifted pupils are trying to cover 
the course of study in less than the regular time. 
It is unfortunate that so much confusion exists in the 
nomenclature of special classes. 

The Schoolroom for the Adjustment Class. 

It hardly need be said that a room in order to be 
a place of hope and opportunity should be large, 
clean, bright and cheerful, and well-equipped with 
the necessary books and apparatus. Too often such a 
class is assigned to some dark, dingy, ill-equipped room ; 
and the class which needs the most gets along with the 
least. The time is coming when the school houses 
will be planned in such a way that these rooms will be 



122 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

provided. A building planned to accommodate eight 
regular classes should have at least eleven classrooms. 

Number of Pupils in the Adjustment Class 

If a single teacher must handle the ungraded 
or adjustment class there should never be more than 
25 pupils, and 20 is a better number ; 25 can be accom- 
modated if the individual teacher can spend at least an 
hour a day in the room, while 30 or 35 pupils may do 
superior work in such a room if there can be an individ- 
ual teacher who can devote a half day or more to 
the needs of individual pupils. Indeed, the opinion 
is ventured that such a room can never become a true 
place of hope and encouragement until there is one 
teacher to do the class work and another to do the 
individual work. Then things really move and results 
are accomplished. 

The writer has had the supervision of such a room 
at Westerly, Rhode Island, for several years, where 
two teachers, one doing class work, one doing individual 
work, have worked with from twenty-five to thirty 
pupils (a few of the pupils being subnormal). The 
results in this room have fully justified the added 
expense of the extra teacher. One boy who started 
in the lowest division of this room (a first grade) four 
years ago was this year, owing to the start he received 
there, promoted to the eighth grade. Under the reg- 
ular class plan he would doubtless just be entering a 
fifth grade. The writer is almost convinced that an ad- 
justment class cannot really become an efficient instru- 
ment until it has the individual teacher to aid the class 
teacher in strengthening the weak places in the class. 

The Teacher 

The teacher of the adjustment room must believe 
in her own power of accomplishment as a teacher and 



ADJUSTMENT OR UNGRADED CLASSES 123 

in the ability of even the slowest child to make progress. 
She must be rated plus on humanity, sympathy, pa- 
tience, and cheerfulness. In addition she must be a 
skillful teacher in all that the phrase implies, a learner 
whose mind is ever open to new truth. 

She must know the human mind, especially the 
child mind, and how it unfolds and in order to know that 
she must know the whole nature of the child; she will 
then have a genetic view of life from its very beginning. 

To such a teacher, the work of guiding children 
will never seem a narrow, tedious grind. Such a 
teacher can inspire, can teach, because her own soul 
is aflame. 

The equipment of the individual teacher has been 
described elsewhere. 

Course of Study 

The course of study for the Adjustment Class 
need not differ materially from that for the regular 
classes except that the pupils' weak subjects should 
be stressed; and, if need be, a pupil should be allowed 
to drop a given study for a time in order to put more 
time on work in which he may be weak; or a pupil may 
have "gone stale" on a certain subject and thus need 
to drop it for a time until he can take it up with new 
zest. The writer knows of a case where a bright boy 
became dull in arithmetic. His mother consulted a 
well known psychologist who advised that the boy drop 
arithmetic for a time which he did with the result that 
later he took up the work again and carried it along 
with success. Sometimes the ding-donging process 
needs to be modified. 

Adjustment Classes in New York City 

In addition to the so-called "ungraded classes" 
which as we have seen are really auxiliary or "accom- 



124 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

modation" classes for mentally defective pupils), 
New York City provides three types of specially graded 
classes called C, D and E classes. The C classes are 
for non-English speaking children who need to be 
taught English as rapidly as possible in order that they 
may take their places in a regular class; D classes are 
for "certificate pupils" who are soon to be fourteen 
years old, (the minimum age limit for school attendance 
in New York) and will then leave school to go to work. 
In the D classes such pupils are given instruction in the 
"essential" subjects in order that they may reach the 
legal requirements as to scholarship before leaving. 

E classes are for over-age pupils and are designed 
to enable these pupils to make more rapid progress 
than they could in the regular grades, and thus be able 
to gain extra promotions. An interesting study, show- 
ing the efficiency of the D and E classes is made by 
City Superintendent W. H. Maxwell in his annual report 
for 1910, pp. 97 to 103. 

Adjustment School in Syracuse, N. Y. 

The ungraded or adjustment school of Syracuse, 
New York, according to the late Superintendent A. B. 
Blodgett "suitably provides for the needs of children 
who are overgrown, that is, large for the grade in which 
they would necessarily have to recite, and are backward 
from such causes as absence from school, and sickness" ; 
pupils who find it necessary to work a part of the time, 
those who are out of adjustment through change of 
schools; some pupils who can do the work in less time 
than the pupils of the regular grades. To this school 
are admitted only pupils of the sixth, seventh and 
eighth grades. The teacher of this school, Miss Falvey, 
writes that so far as she knows there is no other school 
like this in existence. 



ADJUSTMENT OR UNGRADED CLASSES 125 

Miss Falvey thinks that some sort of tests of a 
practical character would be of advantage to determine 
the mental status of some of the pupils whose parents 
expect them to do more work than they are capable 
of doing. Such tests would show the parents what 
to expect of their children. 

She is also of the opinion that work done in such 
a way as "to call the physical activities into play helps 
with the mental: e. g., pupils accomplish more when 
working at the blackboard than when set the same tasks 
at their seats." 

For the adjustment class Miss Falvey would select 
a teacher "with an infinite amount of tact, enthusiasm, 
determination, energy and optimism. Perfect health 
and no 'nerves' are very essential. The teacher 
should have had a varied experience, including dealings 
with the various classes. " 

Adjustment Schools in Los Angeles 

That these schools have been a valuable means of 
diminishing suspensions and corporal punishments is 
shown by the following table taken from the report of 
Assistant Superintendent M. C. Bettinger of Los 
Angeles : 

"To show the influence of these rooms in the re- 
duction of corporal punishment and suspensions, I feel 
that it is worth while to reproduce my tabulation of 
last year's report, and to add to it the corresponding 
items for this year. 



Year 


Suspensions 


Corporal 
Punishments 


Enrollment 


1902-3 


218 


494 


30,909 


1903-4 


199 


483 


34,326 


1904-5 


132 


441 


37,877 


1905-6 


116 


377 




1906-7 


72 


254 


42,998 



126 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Other influences have been at work to assist in this 
movement of diminution of undesirable features of our 
work, but the ungraded room has been the main 
agency." 

The Ungraded Rooms of the Los Angeles, Cal., 
school system during the school year 1907-8 enrolled 
1006 pupils; of this number 392 were admitted on 
account of age and size, 236 as a means of correcting 
deportment, 187 because they "had been out of school 
one year or more and could not enter a grade." 

It would seem, however, that the best good of all 
the children would demand that the "adjustment class" 
be not used for disciplinary purposes, especially in large 
cities where there are enough pupils to form regular 
disciplinary classes; such special classes, it seems to 
me, might be designated as "training classes." 



PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 127 



Chapter Ten 
PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 

Democracy should not keep talent in the quaran- 
tine of mediocrity. Thus the discovery and fostering 
of talent and the setting it to work in the interests of 
society should be one of the main aims of education 
in a republic. Society is just beginning to see that 
equality before the law must not be confused with 
natural equality. This confusion has doubtless led 
to some delay in society's concern for the highest 
development of its human resources. In the old form 
of caste education, the son could not rise above the 
station of his father. The fear that a differentiated 
education would develop caste has, doubtless, led many 
to assume that in a democracy all should be educated 
alike. This fear is well founded if the development of 
superior powers leads, in general, to a drain upon 
society in the way of wasteful luxury, inordinate pleas- 
ure-seeking, and immoral example, evidenced by a 
degenerate, ease-loving progeny. But democratic so- 
ciety is coming more and more to see that this following 
of false ideals of life by some of its members is due to its 
own failure to provide proper educational opportuni- 
ties for all its children. The people's schools have all 
along been cheap schools, far too cheap to be education- 
ally efficient. This fact has led Dr. C. W. Eliot to 
assert that American schools can never do their work 
well until the people make some approach to paying 
for public education what many parents are now willing 
to pay for the private education of their children. Dr. 



128 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

John Dewey never said a wiser thing than this : " What 
the best and wisest parent wants for the education of 
his child that should the community want for all its 
children." Some writers and speakers, more promi- 
nent than wise, are forever dinning our ears with state- 
ments concerning the vast sums the nation is expending 
for education, which in the aggregate seem amazingly 
large, nearly $400,000,000 for 18,000,000 children; an 
expenditure, however, when looked at from the indi- 
vidual side, of less than twelve cents a day per pupil. 
Almost no American community spends twenty-five 
cents a day per pupil for education; yet even the 
moderate-priced private schools charge at least a 
dollar a day per pupil for tuition alone. 

Public schools can be made better than the best 
private schools for a reasonable expenditure, but to be 
reasonable it must be much greater than the present 
expenditure for school purposes. In many places 
school officials are kept in office because they can man- 
age the schools on a small expenditure of money, not 
because they can make the schools more efficient. 

Why should it be a matter of surprise for a man 
of means to send his sons and daughters to the public 
schools? The reason why public education often gets 
such scant attention at the hands of legislators, both 
state and national, is because the leaders in such bodies 
often have little real personal interest in public educa- 
tion because their own children are in private schools. 
Witness the penurious policy of Congress toward the 
National Bureau of Education in its recent attitude 
toward appropriating some $75,000 for establishing 
special lines of educational research. 

Society can never suffer from the evils of the caste 
system if it is willing to provide proper education, not 
cheap education, for all its children, to the extent of 
conserving and developing human power wherever 



PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 129 

found. Under this scheme normal, subnormal and 
supernormal members of the community will each be 
provided with educational opportunity, and encouraged 
and aided to develop up to the full extent of individual 
ability. 

Our educational scheme has been organized to fit the 
average normal child. Until very recently it had never 
occurred to educators to differentiate the educational 
scheme to fit different degrees of mental endowment. 

In speaking of the establishment of special schools 
in America, a German writer in Die Hilfsschule states 
that their development has been slow because their 
establishment was thought to violate the democratic 
ideal of human equality. This ideal has had to give 
way before the advance of scientific knowledge, espe- 
cially in the realm of the psychology of the feeble-minded. 
It is now generally accepted that these mentally weak 
members of the human family can never by any human 
means become normal men and women. They can, 
however, by specially organized schools with a special 
curriculum and specially trained teachers be vastly im- 
proved in their mental, moral, and physical condition, 
and to a greater or less degree made self-supporting, and 
by proper supervision made less a menace to society. 

Society has of late years given a great deal of 
study to the subnormal or feeble-minded child, although 
much remains to be done even here. No doubt much 
will be done in the next few years in the line of investi- 
gating the pathological causes of mental retardation 
in normal children. 

Lugaro 1 points out that "Investigation into sub- 
jects in whom the mental deficiency is very slight, into 
the so-called deficient or backward children, would be 
of especial interest because they already present from 



1 Modern Problems in Psychiatry, p. 234. 



130 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

the clinical and psychological sides many differentiating 
signs which in all probability are dependent on ex- 
tremely diverse pathological processes. " We may thus 
some day discover the neural causes of backwardness. 

On the other hand almost nothing has been done 
to investigate psychologically or in any other manner 
the possession of superior mental endowment by cer- 
tain children. 

We do not know how many such children there 
are in the average community. We do know that 
about 1% of the children of school age in a given com- 
munity are so feeble-minded as to need special schools, 
that from 7 to 10% more (Goddard says 15%) are so 
backward as to need supplementary teaching in the 
way of individual help either by special individual 
teachers (Batavia Plan), by Parallel Classes (Mann- 
heim System), or in the ungraded room (Adjustment 
Class). We do not know, however, of the 85 to 90% of 
the school children who remain, how many are gifted 
with superior mental powers to such a degree that 
instruction should be differentiated for them. 

Dr. F. G. Bonser 2 thinks that " perhaps the worst 
type of retardation in the schools is withholding 
appropriate promotion from those pupils who are the 
most gifted, therefore of the most significance as social 
capital." This statement is made as a result of a 
study of the reasoning ability of children of the fourth, 
fifth, and sixth grades. Dr. Bonser found that many 
children of the fourth grade had mental powers superior 
to many children in the sixth grade, yet the graded 
system made no provision for the adequate develop- 
ment of these powers. 

Dr. G. M. Whipple of Cornell, it is reported, will 
soon open a clinic to be especially devoted to the study 

2 The Reasoning Ability of Children of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth 
School Grade. Teachers College, 1910. 



PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 131 

of the supernormal child. In commenting on the fact, 
Dr. J. E. W. Wallin 3 makes the assertion that the super- 
normal child has been most neglected of all, due, he 
thinks, to the fact that the children on the plus side 
of the efficiency curve are not so numerous as those who 
constitute the retarded group, and to the fact that 
they do not trig the wheels of the school machine. 
"But the supernormal, or precocious child, is the 
incipient genius." 

Dr. H. H. Goddard 4 in his recent study of some 
2000 school children of a certain school system is 
authority for the statement that about 4% of the 
children in the public schools possess mental power so 
superior to the average child as to demand special 
opportunities in the way of special classes and courses 
of study for their development. For ascertaining the 
degree of mental ability, or mental age, the Binet-Simon 
tests were used. Children whose mental age was more 
than two years above their chronological age were 
considered as possessing mental power sufficient to 
entitle them to be designated as "gifted." It is to 
be doubted, however, whether a child who exhibits 
power to answer the questions three years above his 
mental level could thereby be considered so gifted as 
to require special educational advantages without 
further tests. The child's previous environmental 
conditions may have played an important part in 
giving him knowledge sufficient to answer many of 
the Binet-Simon questions. 

The suggestions of Meumann 5 along the line of 
determining the degree of mental endowment (Bega- 
bung) by finding the relation between practice and 

3 See article, Clinical Psychology and the Psycho-Clinieist, p. 123 
Journal of Educational Psychology, March, 1911. 

4 See article, Two Thousand Children Measured by Binet Measur- 
ing Scale of Intelligence, Ped. Sem. June 1911, p. 236' 

6 See Vorlesungen, Vol. II, pp. 375-6. 



132 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

ability to execute, by establishing norms of perform- 
ance by which we may measure marked general or 
special ability in individual cases and by ascertaining 
the degree of spontaneity that characterizes certain 
activities and what is closely related, the natural 
impulse to certain kinds of work, will doubtless result 
sometime in standards of direct use to schools. 

Dr. William Stern of Breslau says in a recent 
article that society cannot afford to neglect the super- 
normal or gifted children. He does not mean by the 
supernormal the genius in the sense of Galton and 
Baldwin, but the child "that possesses in quanti- 
tatively superior forms capacities that are generally 
exhibited by individuals at large." According to 
Stern there are two types of gifted children, the speci- 
fically, and the universally supernormal. To the first 
type belong children who are exceptionally gifted in 
any one line such as music, mathematics, drawing, or 
painting, the technical arts ; or in the learning of lan- 
guages; to the second type belong children who seem 
to be endowed with superior mental powers in all lines 
of activity. "Those who belong to this group are the 
great intellects." 

Stern cites the investigation which Kerschen- 
steiner carried out on some 50,000 Munich school 
children to discover those who had marked artistic 
ability. The children were asked "to make freehand 
drawings of specified objects, both from memory and 
from nature." In this way were discovered some 
children, in most cases the children of poor parents^ 
who showed remarkable talent, that had in the majority 
of cases not been properly appraised by the school. 
Kerschensteiner saw to it that these children were 
assigned to art schools or arts and crafts schools where 
they would have the opportunity to develop these 
latent powers. "But," observes Dr. Stern, "what 



PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 133 

would have become of these children had not Ker- 
schensteiner chanced to make his experiment? And 
how much similar talent may smoulder unrecognized 
in other places where no one thinks of making such 
tests?" 

Stern protests against the practice of prematurely 
developing children who show marks of talent. These 
" child prodigy monstrosities" are "often prematurely 
developed gems of human talent, " a sacrifice to the 
"avarice and passion for fame of deluded parents." 
"Quiet, harmonious, general development," should 
be the lot of all children. 

J. Petzoldt, in a pamphlet entitled Sonderschulen 
fur hervorragend Befahigte, 6 advocated the establish- 
ment of special schools for the exceptionally gifted. 
He also, according to Stern, suggests that in a large 
city like Berlin, the twenty most gifted pupils from 
Quinta (the second-year class in the Gymnasium) 
(age ten to eleven years), should be sought each year 
and placed in a special class. "If," says Stern, 
"suitable teachers are found for such classes and 
schools, and if they are not made too large, their achieve- 
ment may be quite extraordinary." 

Groszmann 7 classifies exceptionally gifted children 
as pathological and non-pathological. The latter type 
may, as a rule, he says, be permitted to progress in 
school at their own rate, but there are special times, 
e. g., certain growth periods, such as puberty, when 
certain nervous tensions may develop, so that the 
physical health of such pupils needs careful watching. 
Under the pathologically gifted, Groszmann includes 
"the genius, the Wunderkind, and the idiot-savant." 
A real genius is a Wunderkind grown up. Leonardo 



6 Teubner, Leipsic, 1905. 

7 See article The Exceptionally Bright Child, Proceedings, Grosz- 
mann School. 10th Anniversary, pp. 103-112. 



134 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Da Vinci was a genius of the general type; Mozart of 
the particular type. Mozart was clearly a pathological 
genius. Dr. Groszmann thinks that the following 
remark of young William James Sidis, the eleven-year- 
old prodigy who is said to lecture to Harvard professors 
on the fourth dimension, indicates that he is warped 
somewhat in his mental make-up. "He remarked one 
day: 'I wonder whether school children in future 
generations will celebrate this as a holiday because it 
was the day on which I began the study of the physical 
sciences '"(!) 

Barr 8 intimates that "backwardness and precocity 
in early childhood are indicative of an abnormal ego." 

Dr. G. E. Shuttleworth would appear not to favor 
the attempt to. develop the gifted, for he thinks that 
a marked departure from the normal in one generation 
in the ascending direction is but too apt to be com- 
pensated for by a corresponding deviation downward 
in the next, or at any rate, in succeeding generations. 
Nature dearly loves an average. 

Galton 9 thinks that the real genius is bound to rise 
in spite of all obstacles. He says that the best care 
that a master can take of a genius is to leave him alone. 

Hirsch 10 and Baldwin 11 both state that the influence 
of education upon genius may be important. Says 
Baldwin, "Many a genius owes the redemption of his 
intellectual gifts to legitimate social uses, to the victory 
gained by a teacher and the discipline learned through 
obedience. And thus it is, also, that so many who in 
early life give promise of great distinction fail to 
achieve it. They run off after a phantom, and society 
pronounces them mad." 



8 Mental Defectives, p. 125. 

9 Genius and Heredity, p. 34. 

10 Genius and Degeneration, p. 107. 

11 Social and Ethical Interpretations, p. 162. 



PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 135 

Provisions for Gifted Pupils in Germany, France, and 

England 

The Realschule and the Gymnasium, which the 
German boy enters at nine years of age and in which an 
annual tuition fee of about $25 is charged; the Lycee, 
which takes the French boy at ten or eleven and in 
which he lives, the annual charge being from $80 to 
$200; the great English boarding schools, which also 
receive their pupils at about ten and charge for tuition 
and board about $1,000 a year, are founded on the 
principle that a certain proportion of a nation's youth 
needs special educational advantages. These schools 
provide an opportunity, especially in Germany, for 
pupils with special gifts to make an earlier differentia- 
tion in their educational choices than is possible in 
the more democratic American schools. This doubt- 
less leads to more scholarly foundations, and to a more 
efficient training in preparation for certain lines of 
professional work; this is especially true in the learning 
of languages. A boy of ten stands the monotony of 
the drill incident thereto much better and masters the 
difficulties of pronunciation much easier than does the 
boy of fourteen, the age at which the average American 
boy begins such work in the high school. 

The German Volksschule has been said by some 
to lead into a blind alley, but provision is being made 
in some of these schools, notably those of Charlotten- 
burg and Mannheim, for giving the abler pupils an 
opportunity to get an education commensurate with 
their powers. Ziegler 12 puts much emphasis on the 
right of the child to become something better than the 
father and different from him. He also says that 
the upper ranks of society need the new life and fresh 
blood from the lower social ranks to keep them from 



12 See his Allegemeine Padagogik, Teubner, Berlin, 1905, p. 13. 



136 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

degenerating. On the other hand, Ziegler thinks that 
the schools should be so administered that the rank 
of the father should not be the means of gaining for the 
son a cultural or professional education when the abili- 
ties of the latter have marked him for an education 
in some trade. He says: "To advise that the son 
of Mr. Uppermost or Mr. President of the Govern- 
ment Board become a skillful watchmaker or cabinet- 
maker would (by the father) be regarded as a down- 
right insult, as it was when I advised a father to allow 
his son to become a gardener. " Yet the good of society 
demands that this be done in order to avoid producing 
a "cultured proletariat." 

Provision for the Gifted Pupils Under the Mannheim 

System 

For many years the pupils of the Volksschule in 
Mannheim 13 have had the option of receiving French 
instruction three afternoons a week after regular school 
hours from 4.15 to 5.15 o'clock. There were certain 
objections to this plan; the chief one was the fatigued 
condition of the children after the long school day. 
This led the school authorities to do away with French 
instruction out of school hours and to arrange for 
special divisions in the upper grades of the free Volks- 
schule, for such pupils as had shown themselves fitted 
for the extra study by their industry and the quality 
of their work, especially in language, and whose parents 
desired them to take up the extra language. Those pu- 
pils were chiefly considered who intended to go into com- 
mercial work and would later attend the commercial 
continuation school where instruction in French is given. 

The basal idea of the Mannheim system is the 
"adaptation of the means of education to the educa- 

13 See Mannheim Jahresbericht der Stiiditschen Schulen 1908-9, pp. 
21-22. 



PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 137 

bility of the individual pupils. " This new arrangement 
for meeting the needs of the more gifted pupils is in 
line with this idea. 

The plan went into effect in the spring of 1909 
and is carried out according to the following regulations : 

1. The curriculum of the classes in a foreign 
language of the Volksschule is, including the number 
of hours per week, exactly the same as that for grades 
VI-VIII of the Burgerschule. 

2. Pupils composing these classes are chosen from 
the VI, VII and VIII grades of the Volksschulen of the 
entire city, including the suburbs, and receive their 
instruction in school houses centrally located in the 
Altstadt. 

3. A one-year language course with four hours 
of instruction weekly, given out of school time (after 
four o'clock in the afternoon) must be taken by all 
fifth-grade pupils who wish to enter upon the work of 
the regular foreign language classes. These prelim- 
inary courses are given at the regular schools, the 
pupils taking such courses being members of the 
regular classes. 

4. Such pupils of the fourth grade as have been 
regularly promoted and have received good reports 
throughout may be assigned to this preliminary course 
at the close of the fourth year. 

5. At the close of this one-year preliminary 
course such pupils as have made good progress in 
French and are also above criticism in the other sub- 
jects studied, in the matter of attainment, industry, 
and conduct, are admitted to the regular foreign lan- 
guage classes. 

6. Pupils whose work in the foreign language 
classes does not come up to the standard are sent back 
to the regular classes. 



138 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Schools for Gifted Pupils in Baltimore, Maryland 

Pupils who have done superior work in the sixth 
grade are permitted (with the sanction of their parents) 
to pursue additional subjects of high school grade 
while engaged upon the regular work of the seventh 
and eighth grades. 

The studies generally taken are Advanced English, 
German, and Latin; in a few cases pupils have been 
permitted to take some of the first-year Mathematics. 
Pupils selected for this work attend a school so 
located that enough pupils may be brought together 
to make it feasible to carry on departmental instruction. 
One such school was started in Baltimore in 1902 with 
173 seventh- and eighth-grade pupils. There were in 
March, 1910, four such schools in Baltimore, enrolling 
571 pupils of the two upper grades. Selected pupils 
are allowed to remain in these schools for an extra 
year, thus being able to complete their high school 
work in two years. The great majority of pupils 
from these classes graduate from the high school in 
three years, their work in the preparatory classes 
saving them a year in their high school course. 

Supt. Van Sickle writes thus of the practical 
working of the plan: 

"By June, 1910, 236 (preparatory pupils) in all 
will have graduated. Of these, 41 were in the high 
school proper but two years; 120 were in high school 
three years and 75 four years. While these 75 pupils 
who, in the early days of the plan, spent four years 
in the high school did not save any time, they enjoyed 
marked advantages. They earned 13,050 credits or 
an average of 174 each; whereas the number required 
for graduation was only 150. " The high school records 
of these selected pupils, both as to honors taken and 
as to ability to cover the course in less than the required 



PROMOTION CLASSES FOR GIFTED PUPILS 139 

time, show that the preparatory work has been of 
value to them. 

"The fact," says Van Sickle, 14 " that teaching can 
not be economically provided for less than three classes 
makes it necessary to organize the preparatory classes 
in selected centers." 

Obstacles to the plan: 

Some parents do not understand it. 

Some teachers are not in sympathy with it because 
it takes away their able pupils. 

Some pupils are reluctant to go to a strange school. 

Owing to these reasons only about a third of the 
pupils selected as eligible for the preparatory school 
actually go. 

Plans similar to that in Baltimore are in use in Boston 
at the Latin School; in Providence, R. I., at the Hope 
High School; at Worcester, Massachusetts; at Ports- 
mouth, New Hampshire; at Richmond, La Porte, 
Crawfordsville, Goshen, Madison, Indianapolis, Indi- 
ana; at Joliet and Aurora, Illinois; at East Saginaw, 
Iron Mountain, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids, Mich- 
igan; at York and Lincoln, Nebraska; at Lead, South 
Dakota; at McAlister, Oklahoma; at New Orleans, 
Louisiana; at Lake George and Warrensburg, New 
York, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

These plans 15 practically carry out what is known 
as the "six and six plan"; six years of elementary 
school work and six years of high school work. 



14 Gifted Children in the Public Schools, The Elementary School 
Teacher. April, 1910, pp. 357-366. 

15 See article on Pre-academic School, in Report of the Committee 
on School Organization to New York City Teachers' Association, 
New York, 1910. 



140 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Eleven 
TRAINING OR DISCIPLINARY SCHOOLS 

In East Orange, New Jersey, a room is set apart 
in a central school for the "uneasy boys" from the 
third to the seventh grades inclusive. Superintendent 
Davey writes, "We have so few hard cases that it has 
not seemed proper to call this an incorrigible or parental 
room. Out of 1200 boys in these grades we generally 
have six or eight in this room, where they remain until 
their conduct has been entirely satisfactory for four 
weeks." 

In Elizabeth, New Jersey, there is an "ungraded" 
class with a man in charge to which are sent boys whose 
conduct is a detriment to the children of the regular 
classes. This is known as the Parental School. In 
writing concerning this school, Superintendent R. E. 
Clements says, "Some of the boys sent to this school 
are almost beyond control, are profane, indecent, 
unclean, and altogether unfit to associate with the 
'average child.'" 

Many of them are to a great extent reformed after 
a longer or shorter period in the special school, and are 
sent back to their regular classes, their places being 
taken by others who may be on the "waiting list." 
A few seem to be unable to reform and are continued 
in the parental school from term to term. 

The training schools in Providence, R. I., are called 
"schools for individual work." There are seven such 
schools in the city. 



TRAINING OR DISCIPLINARY SCHOOLS 



141 



The largest disciplinary school 1 in the United States 
is School No. 120, New York City, of which Miss Olive 
M. Jones is principal. 



DAILY PROGRAM OF A TRAINING CLASS, 
SCHOOL NO. 82, BALTIMORE, MD. 



Time. 
9.00-9.15 



9.15-9.30 

9.30-9.50 

9.50-10.10 
10.10-10.30 

10.30-10.45 



10.45-11.00 
11.00-11.10 
11.10-11.30 

11.30-12.00 



Grade II. 



Forenoon 
Grade III. 



Flash Spelling. 
Prep. Reading. 



Study Spelling. 
Silent Reading. 
Number, 
(seat work). 



Grade IV. 



Class. 

Opening Ex- 
ercises, Mem- 
ory Gems, 
Music. 
Literature, 
History, 
Geography, 
Nature or 
Physiology. 



Study Spell- Study 
ing. Spelling. 

Silent Study Geog. 

Reading. or History. 
Reading, Write tables, 
(with teacher). Study tables. 
Write tables. Present 
Study tables. New Topic in 
Arithmetic. 



Rapid Calcu- 
lations. 
Written 
Spelling. 

Recess. 
Phonetics. 



Language, Seat Arithmetic. Seat Arithmetic, 
(with teacher). 



Chair Caning, 

Basketry, 

Raffia Work, 

Bent Iron 

Work, 

or Cardboard 

Construction. 



1 See article describing organization of this school in detail, 
ceedings N. E. A., 1908. pp. 361-365. 



Pro- 



142 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 
Daily Program of Training Class, School No. 82, Baltimore, Md. 







Afternoon 






Time 


Grade II. 


Grade III. 


Grade IV. 


Class. 


1.30-1.45 








Penmanship 


1.45-2.00 


Seat Arithmetic 


. Oral Lan- 
guage. 


Oral Lan- 
guage. 




2.00-2.20 


Reading. 


Written 


Written 






(with teacher). 


Language. 


Language. 




2.20-2.30 








Physical 
Culture. 
Recess. 


2.30-3.30 








Wood-work. 



Comment by teacher: 

"This program is subject to frequent changes, as 
unforseen conditions arise. A few words of explana- 
tion will, perhaps, give the reader a better idea of the 
method used in planning the various lessons. 

"The period from 9.15 to 9.30 is devoted to Liter- 
ature, Nature, History, Geography, or Physiology. 
These subjects are carefully planned, as every phase of 
the English for each grade, phonetics, spelling, reading, 
language, dramatization, and memory gem, grows out 
of the morning lesson. One subject extends over a 
period of a week, each day's lesson being but a step 
in the development of the whole. The music and some 
form of construction, when practicable, are also corre- 
lations of the same subject. 

"Shortly after a boy becomes a member of my 
class, I have an interview with one or both parents, 
either at school or at the home. I then learn whether 
the child will eventually return to a grade, or will 
obtain employment directly after leaving the ungraded 
class. The lessons for each child are planned accord- 
ingly. In the former case, the child is prepared for 
a higher grade; in the latter, his studies tend to fit him 
for the business world, and for the examination required 
in order to obtain an employment permit. With every 
child, individual instruction is given to overcome any 
weakness which may exist." 



DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 143 



Chapter Twelve 

DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 

There are many educators, Dr. C. W. Eliot among 
others, who believe the individual good of the pupils 
is best promoted by organizing the teaching of certain 
grades of the elementary school on the departmental 
plan similar to the organization in the high school. 
By this plan, instead of having one teacher teach all the 
subjects of a certain grade, the teachers of several 
grades or classes apportion the work so that each teacher 
makes a specialty of teaching some one principal sub- 
ject. Thus, the writer has in mind a school in which 
the teaching of the four classes composing the seventh 
and eighth grades is organized according to this plan. 
The teaching is done by five teachers including the 
principal, who is the departmental teacher of History. 
He has no room assigned to his charge. The teacher 
of English has charge of Grade VIII Class I ; the teacher 
of Mathematics has charge of Grade VIII Class II. 
The two classes composing Grade VII are looked after 
by the teacher of Geography and Science and the teach- 
er of Reading, respectively. 

The teacher in charge of a class is called the class 
teacher and as such she makes out the reports, is re- 
sponsible for the general discipline of the room, and 
teaches the minor subjects such as Drawing, Penman- 
ship and Spelling. 

When departmental work began to be introduced 
into the elemental schools about fifteen years ago, 



144 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

some schools organized the teaching in the four or five 
upper grades on this plan but now the consensus of 
opinion seems to be that the best results are obtained 
when the use of the plan is confined to the two upper 
grades. 

The chief advantages of the plan are these: 

1. Each teacher is a specialist. 

2. The teacher's daily preparation is better be- 
cause she has only one or two subjects. 

3. More thorough scholarship on the part of the 
teacher is thus encouraged. 

4. Thorough knowledge on the part of the teacher 
tends to more inspiring teaching. 

5. The curriculum is enriched intensively— the 
teacher knows her subject. 

6. The teacher is thus enabled to present what 
is worth while. 

7. It tends to secure better equipment in the 
way of books, apparatus and other appliances, as each 
teacher makes a study of what is best adapted to make 
her work effective. 

8. It tends to promote the physical comfort and 
health of the pupils by having them change from room 
to room. 

The chief disadvantages are these: 

1. Teaching special subjects tends to narrow 
teachers. 

2. The teacher teaches subjects and thus forgets 
the individual, it being much harder to look after the 
individual need of 150 pupils than of 40. 

3. The departmental teachers are inclined to 
demand too much work of their pupils. 

4. It is impossible to arrange departmental pro- 
grams according to hygienic principles so that the 
studies will come at a time conducive to the best 
results. 



DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 145 

5. It tends to poorer discipline; one weak teacher 
may be responsible for demoralizing the discipline of 
a series of rooms. Associate City Superintendent 
Haaren of New York City finds ' ' that many of the diffi- 
culties of department instruction are encountered 
during the first term of the Vila grades. The pupils 
of this grade being new to the plan, become confused 
at having to recite to so many teachers ; they also abuse 
the larger liberty that is given them. " Superintendent 
Haaren 1 thinks also that if "the defects of discipline, 
of habits of study, or of any of the things that should 
mark the good students" are corrected at this point, 
largely by the closer supervision of the principal, they 
will not be likely to reappear in the higher grades. 

Superintendent Haaren also points out, that a 
"single departmental circuit should not have more 
than five teachers." Kilpatrick 2 would make six 
teachers the limit. 

Kilpatrick 3 further makes the rather sweeping 
statement, which is certainly debatable, that the plan 
of having the teachers go from classroom to classroom 
to teach their specialties, the "Peripatetic Method" as 
he calls it, instead of having the classes change rooms 
is open to serious objection, so serious that "it is 
questionable whether departmental teaching should 
be tried at all" where it is necessary to follow this 
method. Kilpatrick also stresses what he calls the 
"Common Subject Plan" of departmental teaching. 
Under this plan each of the department teachers would 
teach English to his own class and his special subjects 
to all the classes of the "departmental circuit." 



1 Report of School Division VII in Twelfth Annual Report of the 
City Supt. of Schools New York City for 1910, p. 281. 

2 See his Report on Departmental Teaching in Report of Com- 
mittee on School Organization of New York City Teachers' Association, 
1910, p. 13. 

3 See his Departmental Teaching, Macmillan, N. Y. 190S, p. 112. 



146 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Specimen Program. 

Teacher. Common Subject. Departmental Subject. 

A English Mathematics 

B English History — Music 

C English Geography 

Science 
D English Manual Training 

Drawing 

Perry 4 makes the statement that in order to enable 
"the graduating teachers to correlate and round out 
the work" of the different teachers in the previous 
grades "it would seem best to omit the highest grade 
from the departmental plan." 

This idea would, however, not be favored by those 
who have studied the plan most carefully. The two 
upper grades are best adapted for carrying out the plan. 

4 The Management of a City School, Macmillan 1908, p. 192. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE 147 



Chapter Thirteen 

SUMMARY OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMIT= 

TEE ON SCHOOL ORGANIZATION TO THE 

NEW YORK CITY TEACHERS' ASSO= 

CIATION AND THE BROOKLYN 

TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION 

This report gives the result of a study of the popu- 
larity of the best known plans of grading and promo- 
tion among about 1,000 superintendents, principals 
and "teachers of teachers" in the different states of 
this country. A return postal card was sent to 2,000 
educators. They were asked two questions in regard 
to each of thirteen plans of grading and promotion. 

1. Have you tried? 2. Do you favor? The 
following is a brief summary of the answers to the 
questionnaire. 



Number who 


Did not 


Had 




favored 


favor 


tried 


1. Cambridge Plan. 


241 


120 


75 


Bright pupils may be transferred 








to shorter course; slow pupils to 








longer course. 








2. Elizabeth Plan. 


351 


98 


276 


Opportunities are provided for 








frequent promotion. 








3. Pueblo Plan. 


284 


155 


207 


*Each individual child progresses as 








fast as he can and is promoted at 








any time. 








4. Batavia Plan. 


145 


259 


138 


*Two teachers are employed to teach 








one large class. 









[Interpretations wrong or partially wrong.] 



148 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Number who 


Did not 


Had 


favored 


favor 


tried 


479 


149 


465 



5. Departmental Teaching. 
Seventh and Eighth Grades taught 
similarly to the high school method. 

6. Group Teaching. 534 62 539 
Class is divided into two or more 

groups for study and recitation. 

7. Pre-academic School. 119 269 46 
Seventh and eighth years organized 

as a separate school. 

8. Extension Classes. 238 122 57 
Short commercial or industrial 

courses used to supplement ele- 
mentary course. 

9. Special classes of over-age or foreign 

born children. 553 43 296 

10. Ungraded Classes. 590 37 276 
*Classes organized for defectives or 

incorrigibles. 

11. Promotion by Points. 196 187 73 
A proposition to advance by subjects 

and not by grades. 

12. Chicago Plan. 244 157 111 
Teachers can promote entire class 

as soon as grade work has been com- 
pleted. 

13. North Denver Plan. 227 164 169 
Bright pupils help other pupils. 



Summary of Report of Committee 

"The individual child has been ignored largely" 
because our usual plan of school organization following 
the "line of least resistance" has made it extremely 
difficult to properly place the individual. Our present 
system has directly hindered self-initiative, self-mas- 
tery, courage of conviction, and individual independence 
and forcefulness. The child has been led too often to 
feel that the only thing that really counted was to 
become mediocre. Such a course always secured pro- 
motion and equal rank with the best pupils. 



* [Interpretation wrong or partially wrong. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE 149 

"In all of the thousand and more replies received, 
only one or two challenged the urgent need of protecting 
the individual pupil through better school organiza- 
tion." 1 

Each of the plans has something of value. Any 
plan must be more or less modified to suit local condi- 
tions. 

1. Aim of School Organization. — To give each 
child a chance to work up to the full measure of his 
capability. A school providing such opportunity pre- 
sents ideal conditions. 

2. Means of Providing this Opportunity — 
Flexibility of school organization. The course of study, 
the program, the equipment, grading, and promotions 
should all be planned to meet the needs not of the 
"average child" but of the individual children. 

3. Classification and Grading. — Attainment 
should be the basis of classification. A pupil should 
be rated on the points or units of work he has actually 
accomplished, irrespective of what other members of 
the class or school have accomplished. 

4. Promotion. — Promotions should be made at 
any time when the individual pupil completes satis- 
factorily a given portion of the course. He should be 
given credit for this amount of work and allowed to go 
on to new work. This is promotion by points rather 
than by classes. The pupils should be made to see 
that not change of teacher and classes, but attainment 
as evidenced by power to attack and solve new problems 
is the essential element of promotion. 

5. Study. — School organization should provide 
time for independent study. Such study time should 
furnish opportunity for the pupil to make up lost work 
and to do work that may help him to advance more 

1 N. Y. Rep. p. 3. Van Evrie Kilpatrick. Chairman Com. on 
Organization. 



150 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

rapidly. The study period will be ineffective unless 
the pupil can be made to see that the work done really 
counts toward his advancement. 

6. Course of Study. — The course of study 
should be written in sections, each covering the work 
that could be done by the normal child in one or two 
months. Credit should be given for each unit of work 
as it is accomplished. It is not possible to modify 
the course of study by elimination; it must be done by 
individual election, one pupil electing "language 
enrichment" another " industrial enrichment." 

7. Methods of Teaching. — Interest should be 
stimulated by the best physical conditions and by keep- 
ing the class at work as individuals, giving each child 
abundant opportunity to express himself. 

Concert recitations are " taboo. " 1. Instructing 
the class; 2. giving opportunity for study and reflec- 
tion; 3. giving opportunity for individual expression 
and advancement; 4. examining and recording; all 
four phases are elements of good teaching. The study 
phase has been too much neglected. 

8. Records and Equipment. — A pupil's attain- 
ments should be properly recorded. (The French 
cahier might be a valuable means of spurring a pupil 
on to higher attainments. This personal record book 
goes with the pupil from grade to grade. In it are 
recorded his successes and failures.) 

Each pupil should have his own individual school 
equipment. In this way responsibility and initiative 
are developed. 

9. School Sessions. — The all-the-year-round 
school should prevail. Vacation schools and summer 
schools for review work, as at St. Louis, are forerunners 
of the change that is to come. Teachers should teach 
and pupils should be compelled to attend a minimum 
number of days during the year. 



report of committee 151 

10. Mass Teaching must give way to Class- 
Individualized Teaching. — Each pupil of the class 
group must feel free to work ahead up to the full 
measure of his ability and be encouraged and shown the 
way to succeed. This is the end of true education: 
not to pass through the grades, eight, sixteen, or 
twenty-four, but to pass through a process of self- 
development so stimulated and fostered that the best 
good of both the individual and society will result. 

The report contains much valuable information 
in the way of opinions from different educators through- 
out the country. 

The monographs on the various plans are, however, 
too short to give any real grasp of the working of the 
plans and some of the writers, notably the writer of the 
monograph on the Batavia plan, show lack of grasp 
of the fundamental principles of the plan described as 
well as marked hostility to it. 

A vote such as was taken can mean very little in 
regard to the success or real merits of a particular plan. 
The writer happens to know that in all New England 
the Batavia System has been given a fair trial in but 
three school systems. The heads of these school sys- 
tems and the great majority of their teachers favor the 
plan. He also happens to know that the Group Meth- 
od referred to in the questionnaire is entirely different 
from what is generally called the Group System in 
most sections of the country, which is nothing more 
than the St. Louis or Elizabeth Plan. In the question- 
naire many voted for or against one thing and were 
recorded as voting for or against another. 

The report will do much good if it will stimulate 
school men and women to thoroughly study all plans 
of grading in a scientific spirit with the idea of knowing 
the strong points and the weak points of each one. No 
universal plan of grading will ever be evolved, but there 



152 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

doubtless are several plans that will accomplish good 
results when they are intelligently administered in the 
interests of the individual children. 

We need to study in all cases the individual abil- 
ities of the pupils. 

Dr. W. Franklin Jones 2 sums up the matter very 
well in the following sentence which closes his valuable 
Study of Grading and Promotion. "Classification and 
promotion should be made on the basis of personal 
acquaintance with the abilities and needs of the specific 
subjects, rather than on the basis of the formal examina- 
tion covering any or all subjects." The provision 
for bringing about this personal knowledge of each 
pupil will do much to evolve a rational plan of grading 
and promotion. We must know the child before we 
can meet his needs. 



2 See Psychological Clinic, June 1911, p. 117. 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 153 



Chapter Fourteen 

MANU=MENTAL SCHOOLS 

No attempt will be made to treat here the subject 
of trade schools and classes preparatory to such schools. 
This phase of the subject has been extensively treated 
by many different authors. Many cities have, however, 
within the last two years started schools for the average 
and retarded pupils, boys and girls that are stranded 
in the lower and middle grades and will soon reach the 
limit of compulsory school attendance and will then 
leave school with the merest elements of an intellectual 
education. The school as ordinarily organized has 
made no provision for the manu-mental training of 
these mentally slow, sometimes only bookishly slow, 
boys and girls. 

These boys and girls need the manu-mental work 
that has been so potent in developing the race, work 
that is closely allied to the everyday struggle for making 
a living. Such work may be the foundation upon 
which later a trade training is built. If so, well and 
good, but it must be recognized that many of these 
slow boys and girls will never learn a trade; they will 
be ordinary day laborers in the different industries and 
commercial enterprises, yet they need this practical 
training that the manu-mental school can give, to 
make them more skillful ordinary workers, and what 
is equally important to make them, both boys and girls, 
better prospective home-makers. The man and the 
woman who have been trained to use their hands in 
the many ways that they can be so trained in these 



154 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

special schools just coming into being, will make better, 
more provident and happier citizens, who know how, 
because of this practical training, to take care of them- 
selves and their homes as well as to render more efficient 
industrial or commercial service. 

Differentiated courses for such pupils in the upper 
grades have been worked out in some school systems, 
notably that of New Britain, Connecticut, and of 
Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Superintendent S. H. 
Holmes, of New Britain in his report for 1911, writes 
as follows of the differentiated courses in the Grammar 
School : 

"This plan has now been on trial for a full year. 
Up to September, 1910, the Grammar School had offered 
to its pupils only one course of study calculated to 
prepare for entrance to the High School, whether they 
were planning to enter the High School or not. 

"The work of the school as arranged for the past 
year and at the present time consists of four different 
and differing courses, each one of which may lead to the 
High School if the pupil maintains creditable standing 
in his work." 

These courses are as follows: 

Course A. — The General Course — designed to 
prepare particularly for the English and classical courses 
of the High School. 

Course B. — The Household Arts Course for Girls 
— designed to prepare for (a) The Domestic Science 
Course of the High School: (b) The Trade School for 
Girls, and (c) the duties of home making and house- 
keeping. 

Course C. — The Practical Arts Course for Boys — 
designed to prepare for (a) The Mechanic Arts Course 
of the High School: (b) The Trade School for Boys. 

Course D. — Business and English Course for 
Boys and Girls— designed to prepare for (a) The Com- 



MANTJ-MENTAL SCHOOLS 155 

mercial Course of the High School; (b) The Business 
College : (c) also intended for those pupils who go direct- 
ly from the Grammar school into positions in stores 
and offices. 

"The choices in September, 1910, were as follows: 



Grade VIII. 






Course A — Boys 


83 




Girls 


90 


173 


Course B — Girls 


22 


22 


Course C — Boys 


37 


37 


Course D — Boys 


22 




Girls 


25 


47 


Total number in grade 




279 


Grade IX. 






Course A — Boys 


93 




Girls 


84 


177 


Course B — Girls 


10 


10 


Course C — Boys 


12 


12 


Course D — Boys 


4 




Girls 


11 


15 



Total number in grade 214 

"At the close of the year, allowing for such with- 
drawals from the school as usually occur and for such 
changes in choice of courses as were permitted where 
reasons seemed adequate, the numbers in the courses 
stood as follows: 

Grade VIII. 

Course A — Boys and Girls 179 

Course B— Girls 23 

Course C— Boys 30 

Course D — Boys and Girls 42 

Total number in grade 274 



156 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Grade IX. 

Course A — Boys and Girls 180 

Course B— Girls 9 

Course C — Boys 10 

Course D — Boys and Girls 18 

Total number in grade 217 

"One of the most noticeable and satisfactory results 
of the new plan of organization is its effect in preventing 
the large percentage of loss which has formerly been 
experienced in the grammar grades. 

"Any reasonable plan that serves to hold the pupils 
in the school until they have finished the year's work is 
worth all that it calls for in added difficulty of organ- 
ization or cost of administration. 

"Some of the advantages which may reasonably be 
expected from such a plan of differentiation of courses 
may be briefly stated as follows: 

1. Prevention of loss in membership. 

2. A better quality of work, because individual 
abilities, tastes, interests and purposes are considered. 

3. Closer connection with Trade School and High 
School courses and better preparation for life work for 
those who leave school at the end of the Grammar 
School course. 

"The choices of courses for the school year opening 
September, 1911, have resulted as follows: 

Grade VII. (Formerly Grade VIII.) 

Course A — Boys 94 

Girls 100 194 

Course B — Girls 35 

Course C — Boys 44 

Course C — Boys 31 

Girls 34 65 

Total number in grade 338 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 



157 



Sficie tys Sfeeds- 



Teachint 



mmtrce. Skilled. 



Household 



Trades Managers 



Unskilled 
Workers 



Hz natergrarfen. 




DIAGRAM SHOWING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SECONDARY AND 
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SYSTEM OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT 



158 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Grade VIII. (Formerly Grade IX.) 

Course A — Boys 79 

Girls 107 186 

Course B — Girls 16 

Course C— Boys 21 

Course B — Boys 18 

Girls 22 40 

Total number in grade 263 

Practical Arts School of Fitchburg, Massachusetts 

The Practical Arts School of Fitchburg, Massa- 
chusetts, offers the following four courses for the pupils 
of the seventh and eighth grades - 1 

Courses of Study 

Commercial Course, 30 hours per week. 

123^ hours to literature, composition, spelling, 
penmanship, mathematics, geography, history and 
science. 

iy<i hours to physical training, social dancing, 
music, general exercises and recesses. 

10 hours to typewriting, shorthand, bookkeeping, 
and business arithmetic and related design. 
Practical Arts Course, 30 hours per week. 

123^2 hours to literature, composition, spelling, 
penmanship, mathematics, geography, history and 
science. 

IY2 hours to physical training, social dancing, 
music, general exercises and recesses. 

10 hours to drawing, designing, printing, making 
and repairing. 
Household Arts Course, 30 hours per week. 



1 This description of school and courses isTtaken from the report 
of Mr. Charles S. Alexander, Director of the Practical Arts School. 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 159 

123/2 hours to literature, composition, spelling, 
penmanship, mathematics, geography, history and 
science. 

73^2 hours to physical training, social dancing, 
music, general exercises and recesses. 

10 hours to household arts. 
Literary Course, 30 hours per week. 

123/2 hours to literature, composition, spelling, pen- 
manship, mathematics, geography, history and science. 

73/2 hours to physical training, social dancing, 
music, general exercises and recesses. 

5 hours to a modern language. 

5 hours to drawing, designing, printing, making 
and repairing. (Household Arts for girls.) 

Home study is also required — two hours a week 
in grade seven and five hours a week in grade eight. 

"This home study, it is expected, will gradually 
develop the habit of doing part of the school preparation 
outside of school hours and make the pupil better able 
to meet the high school requirements of fifteen hours 
home study per week. It may seem to some that 
with thirty hours of school sessions per week there 
should be no required home work. If there be any 
holding such an opinion they should not forget the 
amount of time in each course given to manual work, 
and the total hours of study and recitation required 
of first year high school pupils. One of the causes of 
failure in taking up high school work is the jump from 
the ordinary eighth grade requirement of twenty-five 
hours per week to the high school requirement of forty 
hours per week. As arranged at the Practical Arts 
School the transition is easier. 

"Seventh Grade — 32 hours per week including 5 
to 10 hours manual work. 

"Eighth Grade — 35 hours per week, including 5 to 
10 hours manual work. 



160 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

High School — 40 hours per week. 

"It will be necessary hereafter to set a limit to the 
number of pupils who can be admitted to each of the 
courses. Next September (1912) the numbers which 
the school can accommodate will be as follows: 

"Literary, 64; Commercial, 64; Practical Arts, 64; 
Household Arts, 64; a total of 256 in grades seven and 
eight. 

"Pupils attending Day Street School and the Ed- 
gerly School should be given the first opportunity ; after 
which the courses, until the number limit is reached, 
should be open to all pupils in the city who have com- 
pleted the sixth grade work. Such pupils should be 
received in order of application, which should be made 
through the office of the superintendent of schools. 

"The work of the school has been broadened and 
strengthened by the purchase by the state of nearly 
ten acres of land which will provide ample opportunity 
for agricultural work and for athletics. Beginning 
next spring it is planned to give the boys attending 
the school an opportunity to earn something by work- 
ing Saturdays and vacations upon the land. 

"The school, it is hoped, is meeting better each year 
the purposes for which it was established: to make the 
book work of the elementary school real and therefore 
significant; to impress the pupil consciously and un- 
consciously with the truth that the world is a world 
of work even more largely than a world of books; and 
to teach him that hard manual labor is dignified and 
worthy and one of the greatest of men's blessings— 
the basis of sound health, cheerful spirits and good 
morals. Incidentally, the literary work is improved 
as its use and value is understood. The pupil is also 
brought into contact with several trades and is thus 
enabled to make an intelligent choice of a vocation, 
when such a choice is to be made. 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 161 

"The growing appreciation of the aims and the work 
of the school not only in Fitchburg but in other parts 
of the country is gratifying to those who have given so 
freely of their thought and time to its development. 
Peculiarly pleasing was the declaration of the Chair- 
man of the Canadian Commission on Industrial Edu- 
cation that some such course as the practical arts course 
should precede and be a preparation for trade or voca- 
tion courses — and of other members of the Commission 
that the school was one of the most suggestive, interest- 
ing and helpful contributions to the solution of the 
present educational problem that they had found in 
their sixteen months of travel in Europe and the United 
States. They found but one similar school, an ele- 
mentary Practical Arts School, recently opened in 
Leeds, England." 

The Cleveland Elementary Industrial School 

The Elementary Industrial School of Cleveland, 
Ohio, may be taken as a type of the many manu-mental 
schools that are being organized in different parts of 
the United States. It is really a school for hand- 
minded children. The school was opened in Septem- 
ber, 1909. It was organized especially for those pupils 
who were not under thirteen years of age and who were 
stranded in the sixth grade and were not less than two 
years older than the normal age for the grade. Prin- 
cipals of the elementary schools were asked to recom- 
mend for the school such boys and girls as in their judg- 
ment would be most benefited by the work of such a 
course. The consent of parents was also obtained by 
showing them that their children would make greater 
progress and be more benefited in the new school than 
in the regular schools. The school is more than a 
trade or vocation school. "Industrial considerations 



162 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

were, indeed, to lead and the practical tendencies of 
the pupils were to be appealed to and emphasized both 
in hand-work and in academic work. They were to 
revel, as it were, in practical efficiency. Yet, at the 
same time, no effort was to be spared to touch and stir 
the deeper springs of personality, or manly and woman- 
ly qualities in the pupils, to lead them to an apprecia- 
tion of the social and esthetic value of work, to spiritual- 
ize their growing efficiency with elements of good will 
and joy." 

Course of Study and Time Schedule 

The course covers two school years. The school 
session is from 8.30 A. M. to 3.15 P. M. and is divided 
into nine periods, one of which is a lunch period. There 
are thus forty periods each week which may be devoted 
to instruction and practice. One half of this time is 
devoted to practical instruction in English, mathematics, 
history, geography, and hygiene; the other half is 
devoted to domestic economy, industrial work and 
gymnasium practice. The school is equipped with 
shower baths and a swimming pool. There is also an 
assembly hall in which general exercises are held. The 
sexes are segregated, thus enabling the teachers to shape 
the work in each subject to the particular needs of 
each sex. 

The Course for Girls 

The industrial and economic course for girls 
includes cooking, laundering and general household 
management, together with work in sewing, garment- 
making, millinery, drawing and design and applied art. 
They are given training in the care of the sickroom 
and in the elementary principles of nursing. They 
learn the essential features of good plumbing, the care 
of traps, of the sink, the refrigerator and the bath-room. 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 163 

They are taught a simple system of household account- 
ing and are given much practical information concern- 
ing the "cost of food, fuel, service, rents and typical 
family budgets." The girls make visits of inspection 
to the markets, to house-furnishing stores, to shops 
and factories, gaining in this way valuable first-hand 
knowledge. A room is placed at the disposal of the 
girls which serves consecutively as living-room, dining- 
room, bed-room, and sick-room. The girls and boys 
co-operate in furnishing this room; the regular care and 
detailed management are given over to the girls. 

The Course for Boys 

The boys are taught in the industrial course, free- 
hand and mechanical drawing, " woodwork, pattern 
making, design and craft." The aim throughout is 
to correlate the school work as much as possible with 
the corresponding work in the industries. Along with 
the bench work are given problems calling for a sys- 
tematic use of tools and a knowledge of the main 
principles of construction. 

"Commercial problems are offered in appliances for 
the school gardens, in the making of bulletin boards, win- 
dow boxes, picture frames for the schoolrooms and many 
other articles. The boys receive some practical knowl- 
edge of house furnishing in helping the girls to furnish 
the model room ; they also make furniture for their own 
needs at home. The main principles of construction 
are solved on work in miniature. " Metal fittings for 
woodwork, paints, stains and finishes are studied and 
applied. The boys make visits of inspection to shops, 
factories, to drafting rooms and to the work-shops of 
other lines of industry. "Stress is placed upon busi- 
ness methods, time-cards, expense and checking sys- 
tems, measuring, estimating cost, bills, letters, materials, 
and contracts. " 



164 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

The Effect of the Work upon the Pupils 

Dr. Hailman, 2 to whose report on the Cleveland 
Elementary Industrial School I am indebted for most 
of the facts here presented, states that the new work 
is a source of encouragement to the pupils; the pupils, 
under the sensible discipline and kindly and intelligent 
guidance of sympathetic teachers, soon find that they 
have abilities which they little knew before. They 
also see new meanings in the academic work, and 
take it up with new zest. "As they have gained in 
confidence, they have gained in poise." They have 
learned to respect themselves and in this way have 
come to have more respect for the work of the school. 
They have increased their power of initiative and 
their sense of responsibility. 

"Significant, " writes Dr. Hailman, "is the gain 
of the pupils in their academic work. Indifference 
yielded to intelligent interest; discouragement and 
apathy in the presence of difficulty, to determined per- 
sistence and the fervor of achievement. Parents who 
came to visit the school expressed themselves as much 
pleased, praised the growing interest and ability of 
their children in academic, as well as economic, sub- 
jects, seemed to enjoy the new sensation of pride in 
the work and progress of their children." 

A gain in regularity of attendance of the pupils 
was also noted, although many of the pupils were 
compelled to ride or walk distances of several miles 
to get to school each day. 

Furthermore, after two years of existence the pre- 
judice against the school on the part of some, due to 
the thought that membership in the school implied 
dullness, has been so far overcome that many so-called 



2 See Monograph, "Elementary Industrial School," 1910, pub- 
lished by Cleveland Board of Education. 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 165 

bright children have filed applications for admission. 
A still more convincing proof of the worth of the school 
is found in the fact that a number of pupils who had 
lost interest in school work before their admission to 
the Industrial School, are now anxious to prepare them- 
selves to enter the Technical High School. 

Course of Study 

First Year, Boys 

Drawing 

Simple Working Drawing. Freehand sketching — 
Representation of simple objects, graphically and in 
view-drawing. 

Working Drawings — Simple objects illustrating 
necessity for and arrangement of views. Conventions 
of lines, dimensions, sections, etc. Drawing to scale. 
Application in working drawings for the shop. Sub- 
ject related closely to industry by using much illustra- 
tion material, drawings, blue-prints, etc., and by visits 
to shops and drafting rooms. 

Practical Outlook. Work as mechanical or 
architectual draftsman. 

Simple Lettering. Plain letters and figures used 
in mechanical and architectural drawing. 

Application in connection with working drawings 
and sketches in shops. 

Composition In Lettering. Types of letters 
used in reference to artistic effect in spacing and in 
relation to margins and space to be filled. Tail pieces, 
line finishings, initials, illuminating, monograms. 

Application in titles, title pages, book covers, 
bulletins, advertisements, business cards, etc. 

Illustrative material, visits to printing office, etc. 

Practical Outlook. Sign, bulletin and placard 
painting as a trade. 



166 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Design. For the development of the sense of 
outline, form and proportion. 

Application in wood and metal work. 

Simple Metal Work. Design applied in simple 
objects in copper, brass and other soft metals, particu- 
larly fittings for wood workbox corners, hinges, escutch- 
eons, catches, drawer and door bolts, plates, surface 
decorations, etc. 

Woodwork 

Preliminary Problems. Problems presenting 
systematic use of tools and general principles of con- 
struction, involved in simple projects of use and beauty, 
applying art principles of form and color, and correlat- 
ing with metal work, mechanical and free-hand drawing. 

Commercial Problems. Problems of commercial 
value, such as appliances for school gardens, window 
boxes, bulletin boards and frames for schoolrooms, etc., 
etc., otherwise made at the repair shop. 

Finishes. Stains, paints and finishes studied and 
applied in various wood-working projects. 

Business Methods. Time card, expense and 
checking system, measuring, estimating, costs, bills, 
letters, materials, contracts, etc., etc., correlating with 
English, Geography-History and Mathematics, in both 
first and second years. 

First Year, Girls 

Household Arts 

Aim. The training of pupils in the subjects which 
pertain to life in the home. 

Cookery. Cooking of types of vegetables, cereals, 
the various cuts of meat, flour mixtures, instruction in 
the principles underlying the work, preparation and 
serving of meals, practice in writing menus, care of 
the kitchen and dining-room. 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 1G7 

Sanitation. Plumbing, cleaning of traps, care 
of the sink, refrigerator and bath-room. 

Laundry. Washing of dish towels and table linen. 

Sewing. Care and use of machines. Making of 
uniform for household science, sewing bag, mending, 
hemming table linen, corset cover, shirt-waist suit. 

Art. Designs for table linen, wall paper, rugs, 
draperies, dishes, beauty in form of dishes and cooking 
utensils and fitness for use, lettering, title pages of note- 
books, illustrations for notebooks, suitable pictures 
for the home. 

Lettering for making articles made in sewing, tex- 
tile designs, fitness of articles for their use, suitable 
designs for embroidery, pictures of beautiful costumes. 

Household Accounts. Cost of food in the lessons. 
Cost of meals which are prepared. Cost per capita 
per day. Cost of furnishings, textiles, clothing. 

Museum. Textiles and materials from which 
they are made, pictures of looms, spinning wheels. 

Class Visits. Markets, stores, factories and shops. 

Correlation. All of the work is correlated with 
English, Geography-History and Mathematics, in both 
first and second years. 

Second Year, Boys 

FIRST TERM 

Work as outlined for the first year continued. 

SECOND AND THIRD TERMS 

Full time for industrial work (about eighteen three- 
quarter hour periods each week) may be devoted to 
specialization in one of the following subjects: 

Mechanical Drawing. 

Printing. 

Cabinet Making. 

Pattern Making. 

Building Construction. 



168 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Class Visits. After class talks and discussions, 
visits to drafting rooms, buildings in the process of 
construction and finish, to cabinet shops, paint manu- 
factories, printing offices, pattern shops, etc. 

Second Year, Girls 
Household Arts 

Cookery. Preservation of food ; canning of peach- 
es, pears, tomatoes, jelly, sterilization. Preparation 
of such combinations of food as could be used for a meal. 

Soups, bread, salads, simple desserts, preparation 
and serving of meals, infant feeding, invalid cookery. 
Practice in writing menus. 

Sanitation. Review of first year work. 

Laundry. Hard and soft water, action of alkalies, 
making of soap, preparation of starch, removal of 
stains, washing and ironing of various textiles. 

Home Nursing. Making a bed, care of sick 
room, simple treatment of cuts and burns. 

Sewing. Making of drawers, nightgowns, dress 
of wash materials. Emphasis is placed upon increase 
in speed. 

Art. Household decoration and furnishing. Col- 
ors and materials suitable for the various rooms and 
uses in a home. Study of the principles underlying 
artistic construction in dress. Study of historic exam- 
ples of dress. 

Mechanical Drawing. Working drawing for 
anything needed for the kitchen such as table, drain 
board for sink, shelf or drawer for pantry, accurate 
measurements for windows for window fixtures, draw- 
ing to scale of windows. 

Household Accounts. Cost of food, fuel, service, 
rent. Typical family budgets. 

Class Visits. Markets and house furnishing 
shops. 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 169 

Economic Value. The use which the woman 
makes of money in the home is of equal importance to 
the acquiring of the money. "It is the present duty 
of the economist to magnify the office of the wealth 
expender, to accompany her to the very threshold of 
the home, that he may point out its woeful defects, its 
emptiness, caused not so much by lack of income, as by 
lack of knowledge of how to spend wisely." 

What the Pupils think of the School 

Dr. Hailman asked a second-year class of twenty- 
seven girls and a class of thirty-seven boys to write 
him letters expressing freely their opinions as to the 
benefit they had derived from the work at the Industrial 
School. 

The following extracts from the letters received 
will indicate the spirit of their answers with reference 
to this point : 

Report from Girls 

"Arithmetic and geography I never could under- 
stand in grade school, but since I have come here I 
am interested. " "I like the school because the teachers 
teach the studies we most need, especially the boys and 
girls who want to earn their own living. " "I find that 
I have improved in the subject which seemed to halt 
my progress in school. This subject was arithmetic, 
and I am grateful to the teacher and the school for 
their help." "The school work is told so interestingly 
that we can use it out of school." "I like the school 
because it has helped me to get good marks in school and 
be good to home folks." "The school has taught me 
to be more useful in the home and to be neater in my 
work than I used to be. " "I hope this school will 
help me more every day, so that I may be more useful 
when I grow older." "Here we learn how to sew and 



170 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

cook, and we learn arithmetic and geography that 
we will use out in life." "Our arithmetic and other 
studies are given us in a way that will help us when 
we are grown up." "This school has helped me to 
wish to be helpful to others, and it has taught me work 
that, when I am home, I can help my mother. " "The 
teachers here speak to us like grown-up sisters. They 
tell us what we should do in a way that makes us feel 
at home." "I enjoy coming here, because the lessons 
are more business-like." "Since I came here I have 
learned more than in the seven years at grade school, 
especially in arithmetic." "I like this school because 
I never could have learned anything and I am more 
use in the world. I learned how to be a lady. " "Out 
in the grade school I felt as if I just wanted to stop, but 
here the work is so interesting that I don't like to leave 
it. " "The school has helped me in what I needed most, 
obedience and behavior." 

Cooking and sewing were mentioned as favorite 
subjects by twenty-one; gymnasium practice and 
swimming by eight; geography by six; arithmetic by 
ten; English by nine; drawing by five. Six of the girls 
are looking forward with eager interest to the millinery 
of the second-year course. 

Reports from Boys 

Letters similarly obtained from a class of thirty- 
seven boys, yield the following more or less significant 
extracts : 

"The lessons were so interesting that I felt as 
if I was taking a new hold in life." "I am more busi- 
ness-like than I was before, and can do my work much 
better." "Mechanical drawing I like best, because 
you have to be neat and accurate." "It has taught 
me what an education means in life." "We do not 
sit in one room all the time and have the privilege of 



MANU-MENTAL SCHOOLS 171 

changing classes. " "The school has made me be more 
of a man; it has made me have more self-respect and 
responsibility." "I like the shop-work because it 
gives me something to do with my hands." "The six 
hours in this school pass quicker than the five hours in 
the other school." "It makes me more respectful 
and the work is more of the kind I like." "If the in- 
dustrial school continues to be used to make men of 
boys, it will soon be of great value." "In making 
things at home I have more confidence in myself." 
"It has learned me to have better manners and to do 
better arithmetic and lots of other things." "The 
work I like best is arithmetic, because I did not know 
any at all before I came here. " "I learned to be more 
obedient and my parents say : ' You seem to be learn- 
ing more now than you used to learn. ' ' "The school 
has made a man of me. " "The school has helped me 
to think and to get my work more easily." "Shop- 
work and drawing I like best, because they teach me 
to be accurate." "I like it because it is the line of 
work I will follow." (Several boys express this 
thought; others see in the work good preparation for 
the Technical High School, and one of these for sub- 
sequent attendance upon a course in scientific farming 
at the 0. S. U.) "It has not only helped me in learn- 
ing a trade but to get along better in my other studies. " 
"It has taught me to like school. I like all the work 
we have." 

Among favorite subjects, mechanical drawing is 
mentioned by twenty-six, woodwork by eighteen of the 
boys. Seven boys praise the fact that they do not have 
to sit in one room all day. One boy criticizes "the 
poor location" of the school, but is otherwise much 
pleased. 

It is clear from these extracts that the work is 
taking the right hold on the lives of the boys and girls 



172 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

and that they see in school work, not something that 
is divorced from life but something that has "every 
earmark of actual life." 

The testimony of the teachers of the school cor- 
roborates the statements of the boys and girls. These 
teachers think that the industrial and economic work 
of the school was responsible for the change in the 
pupils' attitudes to school and toward life in general. 
The pupils were led to see the value of academic work 
through its application to the economic and industrial 
work and to appreciate the need of a mastery in both 
lines of endeavor. 

The teachers also sought to get hold of the pupils 
by taking a genuine interest in them, and by teaching 
them to see that the "school liked them, believed in 
them and in their ability." This individual oversight 
and interest was made easier by the fact that the classes 
had much smaller memberships than those of the or- 
dinary school. 

Boston, Massachusetts; Rochester and Albany, 
New York; Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Paul, Minne- 
sota, have organized schools and courses somewhat 
similar to those just described. 



CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 173 



Chapter Fifteen 

CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 

In nearly every school there are children suffering 
from speech defects, and in the great majority of cases 
such defects are curable. 

Conradi estimates that in 1904 there were about 
half a million children suffering from such defects in 
the public schools of the United States. 

In order to make this number, children suffering 
from minor defects in enunciation would probably 
have to be counted. It is also likely that within the 
last fifteen or twenty years phonetic reading and pho- 
netic drills in the schools have tended to correct to a 
considerable degree faulty habits of speech. 

Rowe 1 estimates that about one child in a hundred 
is either a stammerer or a stutterer. 

Dr. Hudson-Makuen 2 estimates that there are 
upwards of 300,000 stammerers in the United States; 
of which number about one-fourth will overcome the 
defect of their own accord; the remaining three-fourths 
must expend a great deal of time and energy upon the 
work of recovery and secure in addition the help of a 
specialist in speech defects. 

Germany 3 leads all countries in the establishing of 
public schools for the treatment of speech defects. 



1 Physical Nature of the Child, p. 58. 

2 See Medical Record, Dec. 18, 1909, p. 1016. 

3 For a list of the countries having classes for children with speech 
defects see Hall's Educational Problems, Vol. 2, pp. 114-115. 



174 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Dr. H. Gutzmann, who has charge of the Ambulatorium 
for speech defects at the Polytechnic Institute of the 
University of Berlin, estimates that there are in Ger- 
many 100,000 stuttering school children between the 
ages of six and fourteen years and 200,000 suffering 
from the defects grouped under stammering. 

The course for stutterers and stammerers at Mann- 
heim may be taken as a type of such courses in many 
German cities. In 1909, Mannheim had two classes for 
stammering children and one for stuttering children. 
The average attendance in the classes for stammerers 
was twelve, for stutterers fourteen. During the year, 
fifty-six pupils attended the former classes and fifty- 
four the latter. Of the stammerers forty were cured, 
and twelve were much improved in speech; of the stut- 
terers forty-one were cured, and twelve made improve- 
ment. The pupils were given instruction for three or 
four hours a week. 

The school for stutterers in Vienna, Austria, has 
a course covering five weeks with two hours of instruc- 
tion each day. The average attendance is eight. The 
children are withdrawn from regular school attendance, 
and have to present a medical certificate to the effect 
that they are free from any organic defect that would 
interfere with the success of the special instruction. 
The parents co-operate in the treatment; a special 
room at home is given to the child where he practices 
special exercises four hours each day. During the first 
two weeks of the instruction he is not allowed to speak 
except to practice the exercises prescribed. Keeping 
silent is said to be of much importance. Parents are 
urged to cast no doubt on the success of the instruction. 
At the end of five weeks the child is sent back to the 
regular school, and his regular teacher is given advice 
as to what is to be done to keep the child from falling 
back into his old ways of speaking. 



CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 175 

Dr. Thomas J. T. McHattie 4 of Edinborough 
regrets the backwardness of England in the provision 
of classes for the correction of speech defects. He 
reports that experimental centers for carrying out this 
work are soon to be open in London. 

Within the last few years several cities in the United 
States have established special schools for children who 
stutter or stammer. Seattle, Washington, was one 
of the first cities to establish such a school in 1909, but 
carried it on for only three months. This school was 
carried on in a room of a centrally located school build- 
ing and enrolled children from all parts of the city. 
Superintendent Frank B. Cooper of Seattle writes that 
the school was under the direction of Mr. M. R. Hat- 
field and that his work was successful. " Usually it 
did not take him more than six weeks to cure a child 
of the habit." 

In Milwaukee in 1909, two classes for stammerers 
were established, one at the School for the Deaf, and 
one at the South Division High School. Superintend- 
ent Carrol G. Pearse in his report for 1910 writes as 
follows concerning these classes: "The teacher in the 
School for the Deaf devoted all the time to this work 
and had at the end of the year seventeen pupils. The 
teacher in the South Division High School had four 
pupils in charge, and devoted only a part of the time 
to this work. The remaining time was employed in 
rendering special assistance during their study time to 
several deaf pupils, who, having finished the regular 
work of the eighth grade in the School for the Deaf, 
were attending High School. The stammering pupils 
were given exercises to deepen breathing and render it 
more regular and rhythmic; they were given such 
physical exercises as were calculated to steady the 

4 See his The Educational Treatment of Stammering Children. 
School Hygiene (London) Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 308-314, 1911. 



176 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

nerves and give better and steadier nervous poise; 
they were taught to speak without haste, nervousness 
or self-consciousness. Singing was practiced and repe- 
tition of poetry was made use of for the valuable influ- 
ence exerted by the rhythm of the verse. 

"The results were gratifying. Some pupils, who 
were about to leave the high school on account of this 
affliction, were so greatly improved that they continued 
their studies, in which they were able to make good 
progress, satisfactory to their teachers, and without 
embarrassment and humiliation to themselves. Some 
pupils were benefited sufficiently so that they went 
back to the regular classes in their home schools, either 
entirely cured, or so much improved that they hoped, 
by continuing the exercises in which they had been 
trained, to complete the cure without the necessity of 
attending further the special class. Some of the pupils 
attending were improved, but need to return for further 
training with the opening of the new school year. 

"While attending the special classes the pupils, 
wherever possible, went for a part of the time into the 
regular classes of the nearest district school and did 
there such work as was practicable. " 

In December, 1909, the Board of Education of 
Chicago authorized the Superintendent of Schools, 
Mrs. Ella Flagg Young, to employ unassigned teachers 
and cadets to give special instruction to children having 
defective speech for the purpose of giving them control 
of their speech organs. 

To carry out the plan ten young women, selected 
from the class to be graduated from the Chicago Nor- 
mal School in January 1910, were given special instruc- 
tion in speech defects and their remedies. This special 
instruction included a "study of the mechanism of 
speech, of breathing and breath control, and analysis 
of the elementary sounds of the English language, the 



CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 177 

different qualities of the speaking voice, emphasis, 
modulation and other essential qualifications for beau- 
tiful and effective speech." After studying these chief 
characteristics of the normal speaking voice, the stu- 
dents gave their attention to the two classes of speech 
defects: major, — including stammering, stuttering and 
hesitation; minor, — including "lisping, burring the r, 
defective articulation, imperfect vowel moulding, nasal- 
ity, and other disagreeable qualities." 

"Major defects," writes Miss Virginia W. Free- 
man 5 who has charge of the work, "we found, are com- 
paratively uncommon, but there are very few persons 
whose delivery is not marred by one or more minor 
vocal imperfections. " 

These training students were given opportunity 
to observe the speech defects among the pupils enrolled 
in the three practice schools connected with the Normal 
School. These three schools have pupils representing 
many racial types, thus enabling the cadet teachers to 
become conversant with the variations of speech due 
to racial differences. They also observed the effect 
upon the character of speech of nasal catarrh, tonsilitis, 
chronic sore throat, malformation of the mouth and 
lips; such as hare-lip and "cleft palate, elongated 
uvula, and the imperfect articulation of the teeth or 
absence of teeth." 

After these young women were given their pre- 
liminary training, each was assigned to a given number 
of schools so grouped that each teacher had about 
forty pupils under her charge. At first many children 
with adenoids, enlarged tonsils, cleft palates, and other 



6 See article, The Proposed Movement for Treating Stammering 
in the Public Schools. Educational Bi-Monthly, June, 1910, p. 410. 

See also Miss Freeman's article, Treatment of Defective Speech. 
Educational Bi-Monthly, April, 1912, p. 333. This article describes 
five cases of children treated for speech defects in the Chicago public 
schools. 



178 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

abnormal conditions were assigned to the teachers. 
Such children were recommended for proper medical, 
surgical, or dental aid before corrective speech treat- 
ment could be effectively given. 

The teacher visited the school assigned her twice 
or three times a week according to the number and the 
severity of the cases. 

The children were given their speech instruction in 
a room apart from the regular classroom, either indi- 
vidually or in groups of not more than three, instruction 
being adapted to individual needs. The instruction 
included exercises in breathing, in relaxation, speech 
gymnastics, practice in rhythmic utterance and slow 
pronunciation. The teacher, in co-operation with the 
school nurse, the school physician, and the room teacher, 
made a history and record of the more difficult cases; 
the teacher also made a record of the exercises given 
each child and a monthly report of each teacher's work 
was made to the Superintendent of Schools. The results 
of the work have been satisfactory. 

Different Forms of Stammering, Stuttering 

Stuttering and stammering may be the cause of 
retarded mental development. A child suffering from 
such a defect tends to become self-conscious and to 
express himself so little that mental growth is some- 
times retarded. Stuttering children are usually over- 
age for their school grade. Stammering is sometimes 
used as the generic term to cover defects known as 
stuttering but most authorities seem to prefer to use 
the two terms as co-ordinate, covering two different 
groups of speech defects. 

Stammering 

Kussmaul distinguishes two kinds of stammering: 
organic and functional: the former due to some physical 



CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 179 

defect; such as hare-lip, cleft-palate, obstruction of 
the soft-palate by growths in the nasal cavity, abnormal 
structure of the jaws, defective teeth and defective 
hearing; the latter, functional stammering, has no 
organic basis. It may be either motor, due to improper 
training of the speech organs, or sensory, due to lack 
of attention to the proper sounds of words, i. e., "de- 
fective acoustic attention" as Liebmann 6 puts it. 

Liebmann says that the defect is called general 
stammering when it includes many different sounds 
and renders speech difficult to understand; it is called 
partial stammering when only a few sounds are dis- 
torted as in lisping and nasality. 

In intelligent children the defect is confined in 
most cases to single sounds and syllable groups, but 
in the less intelligent it may extend to words and sen- 
tences also. 

Sounds that the stammerer cannot form he either 
leaves out or substitutes similar sounds for them. As 
a rule these omissions and substitutions are, in individ- 
ual cases, fairly regular and occur almost always in 
the same manner. "A stammerer," writes Liebmann, 
"who cannot form correctly the sounds represented by 
k, g, f, v, ss, s and sh, leaves out f and v, saying, e. g., 
at for fat, ale for vale; for k, g, ss, s he substitutes t or 
d; for sh a ch"; thus he says taddy for taggy, mett for 
mess, to for so, chell for shell. In children who are 
mentally retarded the sounds omitted or substituted 
are not always replaced by the same sound but by all 
sorts of sounds which have no similarity to the one 
omitted. What is called sound mutilation (Verstum- 
melung) occurs when the soft palate fails to close the 
nasal cavity in the pronunciation of all sounds except 
the nasals, m, n and ng, producing what is called open 

8 See article on Stammering in Handbuch der Heilpadagogik, 
p. 1642. 



180 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

nasality (rhinolalia aperta). Liebmann calls atten- 
tion to the fact that in feeble-minded children, even 
after the obstructions in the nasal cavity that prevent 
the closing of the palate have been removed by an 
operation, the nasality still continues. Such a child 
is able, with strong encouragement, to repeat correctly 
sounds that are pronounced for him, "but spontaneous 
speech remains unalterably bad." 

A speech defect known as obstructed nasality 
(rhinolalia clausa) is caused by the obstruction of the 
nasal passages. This defect makes it difficult to form 
the nasal sounds, m sounding like b, n like d and ng 
like g. 

Persons afflicted with rhinolalia clausa have less 
difficulty in making themselves understood than those 
afflicted with rhinolalia aperta. 

There are cases of partial nasality. This frequent- 
ly takes the form of inability to pronounce the 1, sub- 
stituting for it the sound of ng, as winging for willing. 
Liebmann calls attention to the fact that where, as is 
often the case, this is the only sound that is incorrectly 
spoken, it is clear that there is no organic defect, else 
there would be failure to pronounce other sounds cor- 
rectly. This fact is often overlooked, and operations 
are made without success. 

Under partial nasality we have a distortion of the 
s sound known as sigmatismus nasalis in which defect 
a peculiar snorting sound is substituted for the s. 

In simple lisping (sigmatismus simplex) the s and 
ss are sounded like th, the point of the tongue being 
extended so as to lie between the teeth instead of 
being wholly back of the teeth as it is when the s sound 
is correctly given. When this defect becomes so general 
as to include the sounds represented by sh, soft g, y, 
x, z and initial ch, it seriously affects the clearness of 
speech so that many words cannot be distinguished 



CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 181 

from one another; thus it is almost impossible for a 
child so affected to learn to read orally. 

The difficulty is still more complicated in lateral 
lisping (parasigmatismus lateralis), the s sounds being 
formed between the sides of the tongue and the back 
teeth, thus substituting a disagreeable lateral hissing 
for all s sounds. 

Treatment of Stammering 

The curing of the stammerer will be brought about 
in a large measure by teaching him the correct position 
of the organs in forming the sounds with which he has 
difficulty. In teaching the correct positions of the 
visible speech organs a mirror is of great assistance: 
this should be large enough so that when it is placed 
upright at a slight angle on a table in front of teacher 
and pupil the faces of both can be seen side by side, 
and the movement and position of the speech organs 
easily noted. 

The correct position of the speech organs in form- 
ing the different sounds may be found in books on phon- 
ics and voice culture. In severe cases of stammering 
a speech specialist should be consulted. 

Stuttering 

Stuttering is characterized by a suspension of the 
continuity of speech, due to lack of co-ordination in 
the movements of the muscles of the speech organs. 
Liebmann 7 says that the basal cause of stuttering is a 
nervous disposition which leads the stutterer to react 
to slight stimuli to which the normal person would pay 
no attention. 

In nervous children stuttering may be developed 
by an attack of infectious disease; such as measles, 



7 See article, Das Stottern, Handbuch der Heilpadagogik, p. 1266. 



182 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

scarlet fever, influenza, or diphtheria, by a hard fall, 
a bad fright and by psychic contagion. 

It is often inherited. Dr. Thomas J. T. McHattie 
is of the opinion that certain families exhibit "an in- 
herited weakness of the nerve structures underlying 
the function of speech." He believes that if all the facts 
could be ascertained this neurotic predisposition would 
be found to be present in a very large majority of all 
cases of the defect and that "it accounts for the fre- 
quency with which the defect follows some nervous 
shock, prolonged illness, or other depressing influence 
by which the vitality of the already weakened nerve 
elements is further lowered." 

The fact that the mechanical methods character- 
istic of the quack cures for stammering and stuttering 
take no account of this nervous weakness is the reason, 
to Dr. McHattie's 8 mind, for their frequent failure. 

Both Dr. J. Herbert Claiborne 9 of New York and 
Dr. E. Bosworth McCready of Pittsburg agree that 
stuttering is the result of imperfect cell development 
in the brain, and that the defect is allied to symbol 
amblyopia; — letter, figure and word blindness. 

Dr. Claiborne states that Dr. McCready reports 
that a young man of twenty afflicted with word-blind- 
ness combined with stuttering was cured by reversing 
his dexterity. This young man could not recognize 
words and stuttered so he could scarcely make himself 
understood. "He was finally able to read and speak 
fluently." 

Dr. McCready 10 calls attention to the fact that 
"general kinesthetic impressions have a decided in- 
fluence in the development of the speech centers as 

8 School Hygiene, Vol. 2, No. 6, June, 1911, p. 310. 

9 See article, Types of Congenital Symbol Amblyopia, Proceed- 
ings, Groszmann School, 10th Anniversary, p. 59. 

10 See article, Biological Variations Causing Retardation, Pro- 
ceedings, Groszmann School, 10th Anniversary, p. 51. 



CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 183 

shown by cerebral hemiplegics after tenotomy. The 
more vigorous and dexterous use of the muscles of one 
side would, therefore, assist materially in speech 
development." Children, according to Dr. McCready, 
who use the left hand by preference should be allowed 
to continue to do so until speaking and writing habits 
are fully developed and not forced, as is usually the case, 
to use the right hand. He cites the case of a little girl 
whose development was normal in every way except 
that she did not begin to form words until she was 
about a year and a half old. Soon after this an at- 
tempt was made to correct her tendency to left-hand- 
edness with the result that she suddenly ceased to talk, 
using unintelligible phrases and gestures to express her 
desires. The child's mentality was on a level with 
other children of the same age. "Her appreciation 
of words and sounds was very good. Her articulatory 
organs showed nothing abnormal. After a week or 
two of special training with liberty to use the left hand 
freely she began to speak again at about the stage where 
she had left off." In view of the fact that there has 
long been a theory that interference with the tendency 
to left-handedness in some young children tended to 
interfere with normal speech development these views 
just cited are particularly pertinent. 11 

Treatment of Stuttering 

The method that has been most widely and suc- 
cessfully used by Gutzmann and others consists of a 
carefully graduated set of exercises which are intended 
to strengthen the muscles concerned in respiration and 
to regulate the respiratory function which is often 



11 See article Sinistrality and Speech, P. B. Ballard, ^'Journal of 
Exp. Pedagogy (London), June 1912. Vol. I, No. 4, pp. 298-310. 

"It follows that the art of writing should be practised by the 
superior hand, and by the superior hand only." 



184 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

poorly developed. First of all the patient is taught 
how to breathe properly which includes the filling of 
the chest at proper intervals and expelling the air 
through the glottis in such a manner that the sounds 
are properly produced. He is then taught how to 
produce his voice correctly "and to combine and co- 
ordinate the two functions of breathing and speaking 
in such a way that in time the process becomes a natural 
one and the difficulty disappears. " The second method 
is that of hypnotic suggestion. Psycho-therapy does 
not necessarily imply actual hypnotism, but Dr. Mc- 
Hattie believes that ' ' by the employment of hypnotism 
many subjects could be cured outright. " 

Mr. Courtland MacMahon 12 thinks that treatment 
for the defect could be given in the public schools in 
classes composed of ten or fifteen pupils. The pupils 
should be taught to breathe properly and during the 
lesson each child could be examined individually to see 
if the sounds are being correctly formed. There could 
be class exercises on the main vowel sounds and their 
combinations, first using the singing voice, then the 
speaking voice. Mr. MacMahon puts stress on the 
value of the singing voice in the treatment as does Dr. 
Scripture. He does not mean by this "the use of a 
silly sing-song voice but a voice full of resonance and 
music which depend on perfect breath control, perfect 
vowel production and perfect articulation." In being 
able to lift the singing voice into the speaking voice 
lies, according to MacMahon, the greatest chance of 
cure. 

After the exercises on the sounds, there could be 
class exercises on words and easy sentences. At about 
this stage the more pronounced cases should be taken 
from the class for individual treatment by a "trained 

12 See his article, Curative Treatment of Stammering, School 
Hygiene. Vol. 2, No. 6, p. 321. London, 1911. 



CLASSES FOR STAMMERERS AND STUTTERERS 185 

expert," the milder cases being allowed to go on as a 
class. The teacher of such a class must have unlimited 
kindness, patience, and forbearance. Parental co- 
operation must be secured and the parents must be 
made to understand that the child is to be encouraged 
in every way, never rebuked. Both the child and 
parents are to be informed that even after a cure is 
apparently effected there may be an occasional return 
of the spasms when the child is fatigued or in times of 
emotional disturbance. Liebmann has said that there 
are times when every person stutters or stammers 
more or less. 

Liebmann 13 also holds that the customary breath- 
ing, voice, and articulation exercises are wholly super- 
fluous. He further says that Gutzmann's exercises 
in speaking in a soft voice "are useless and time 
wasting." The repetition of the same exercises again 
and again as recommended in so many practice books 
is also condemned. He uses such exercises only at 
the very beginning of the treatment, passing as soon as 
possible to spontaneous speech even at the first con- 
sultation if it is possible. He does not believe that 
it is well to separate the patient from his environment 
during the treatment. Liebmann's method seems ex- 
tremely sensible, proceeding in a rational way to the 
acquirement of natural speech, avoiding the tricks and 
many of the burdensome and monotonous exercises of 
other methods. 



13 See article, Das Stottern, Handbuch der Heilpadagogik, p. 
1665. 



186 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Sixteen 

THE MONTESSORI METHODS 

Not long ago an article appeared in one of the 
popular magazines, entitled, ' ' An Educational Wonder- 
worker. " This wonder-worker is Dr. Maria Montes- 
sori of Rome, and her work has attracted the atten- 
tion not only of Italy but of many other countries. 
Her first work was done as directress of the Scuola 
Ortofrenica, or "mind-strengthening school," where 
from 1898 to 1900 she had marked success in applying 
the methods of Seguin and Itard to the education of 
feeble-minded children. She gave up this work in 1900, 
to devote herself to the study of experimental psy- 
chology, of "pedagogic anthropology" and of the 
current methods of modern education. At the end of 
seven years' study, in 1906, Edoardo Talamo, a well- 
known engineer, appointed her directress of some new 
infant schools that were to be established in one of the 
crowded tenement-house districts of Rome. These 
infant schools were part of a model tenement house 
scheme which was being carried out under the direction 
of the Instituto Romano di Beni Stabili, a real estate 
organization of Rome. The idea was to offer special 
inducements in the way of prizes, for the tenants to 
keep their apartments clean and decent. In the group 
of tenement houses managed by this Company, four 
infant schools similar to the French day-nurseries were 
established in 1907 and 1908. These schools or "Houses 
of Childhood," as they were called, were carried on under 
the following set of rules: 



THE MONTESSORI METHODS 187 

" Attention must be paid to the health and the 
physical and moral development of the children by 
means of lessons and exercises adapted to their age. 

"There will be in charge of each Casa dei Bambini 
a directress, a physician, and a caretaker. All children 
in the block between the ages of three and seven years 
have the right of admission to the Casa dei Bambini. 

"The parents of children attending the Casa dei 
Bambini pay no contribution whatever, but they as- 
sume these imperative obligations: A. To send at 
a specified hour their children to the schoolroom, clean 
in person and clothing, and with a suitable pinafore. 
B. To show the greatest respect and deference towards 
the directress and all other persons connected with the 
Casa dei Bambini, and to co-operate with the direct- 
ress in the work of educating their children. At least 
once a week mothers will be able to speak with the 
directress, reporting observations on their own children 
in their home life, and receiving from the directress 
notes and suggestions for the welfare of the children. 

' ' Those pupils will be expelled from the Casa dei 
Bambini, (a) who present themselves in an unwashed 
and slovenly condition (b) who show themselves not 
amenable to discipline, and (c) whose parents fail in 
respect to those placed in charge of the Casa dei Bam- 
bini, or in any way threaten to destroy by bad conduct 
the educational work which is the aim of the institu- 
tion." 

"In the assignment of annual prizes for the best- 
kept house, account will be taken of the way in which 
the parents have co-operated with the directress in 
the education of their children." Yet Dr. Montessori 
does not believe in offering prizes to children in her 
schools. 1 



J See page 101. The Montessori Method, F. A. Stokes Co., New 
York, 1912. 



188 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

These tenement-house schools under the direction 
of Dr. Montessori were extraordinarily successful. 
They are really the novel part of her plan ; but for them 
it is doubtful if her methods would have attracted much 
attention. There is something strongly fascinating 
about the very term "House of Childhood." 

The schools are for children of kindergarten age, 
from three to seven, although Dr. Montessori has in 
view the extension of the methods to the education of 
older children. 

The schools are in session from nine o'clock in 
the morning until half past five in the afternoon; the 
regular school work, however, occupies only from two 
to two and a half hours of the day's session. 

On coming to school in the morning, the children 
first visit the lavatories where they are taught to wash 
their hands and faces, neck and ears. They then put 
on their pinafores, helping one another, if necessary. 
Their next duty is to look after the order and tidiness 
of the schoolroom, dusting where necessary and putting 
everything in its proper place. Then comes play in 
the garden until ten o'clock. As has been said, Mon- 
tessori's methods are largely adaptations of those of 
Seguin and Itard, methods designed by those masters 
to evoke the dormant powers of feeble-minded children 
and make them, so far as possible, self-helpful. 

The fundamental basis of this work is sense train- 
ing for which specific exercises have been evolved. 
The hand and finger muscles are developed by exercises 
in "buttoning and unbuttoning, hooking and unhook- 
ing, lacing and unlacing, tying and such like," things 
that a child can do himself and which render him self- 
helpful at home and at school. Little children trained 
in this way are able to dress and undress themselves, 
thus saving their mothers much work. 



THE MONTESSORI METHODS 189 

It is very likely if Montessori had evolved her 
methods in England, Germany, France or in the United 
States, that they would have caused little of the stir 
that they have aroused in Italy, for many of the meth- 
ods she advocates, have long been in use in some of the 
schools of these countries, especially in France and in 
the United States . 

The late Alfred Binet, the noted French psy- 
chologist, asserted over and over again in many of his 
writings that the methods of education that obtained 
in the schools for the mentally defective were destined 
to supersede, in large measure, the methods of instruc- 
tion in the regular public schools. Such methods 
aimed to develop the whole child, while the traditional 
methods appealed only to one side of his nature. The 
methods worked out by Binet and Vaney, especially 
their so-called orthopedic exercises, are very similar 
to the Montessori exercises and are especially valuable. 
These exercises have been published in pamphlets 
issued by the Societe libre pour V etude de Venfant of 
Paris, of which society the lamented Binet was long the 
directing spirit. Of course, all these methods trace 
back to Seguin, the Pestalozzi of education for abnor- 
mal children. 

Furthermore, it may be of interest to state that 
these methods have been long in use in many of the 
better schools for the training of feeble-minded children, 
both in America and in Europe. Mention may be 
made of the excellent course of study of the Bancroft 
Training School of Haddonfield, New Jersey, in which 
Miss Bancroft and Dr. Farrington have carefully 
worked out a graded curriculum for the training and 
development of subnormal children. Their course in 
sense training is especially valuable. Such schools as 
those at Vineland, New Jersey, and Waverley, Massa- 
chusetts, where Dr. Goddard and Dr. Fernald have 



190 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

worked out scientific methods of training defective 
children, should not be forgotten when we would pay 
tribute to a new comer in this field of education. 

Montessori is the new comer, and she is hailed 
as a great discoverer in education, the peer of Froebel 
and Pestalozzi; indeed there are some who think that 
the Montessori methods are to replace those of the 
kindergarten. 

Now just what has this brilliant Italian woman 
done for education? She has made no discovery; she 
has merely been the first to get a good opportunity 
to apply the methods that have long been in use in 
schools for defective children to the education of nor- 
mal children. So far as giving the child freedom in the 
schoolroom and appealing to the principle of self-activity, 
this is the fundamental doctrine of Froebel. Montes- 
sori' s work is merely supplementary to that of Froebel 
and Seguin and their many followers. She has merely 
applied some of the newer psychological knowledge to 
help to modernize the work of some of the old pedagog- 
ical masters. So, while we should give due honor to 
the able Italian physician and anthropological peda- 
gogue for the work she has done, we should not be 
blinded by the fact that much of the credit now being 
given to her should be shared by others who have pa- 
tiently worked out and elaborated the methods and 
much of the apparatus Montessori is now using in her 
Houses of Childhood. It should, furthermore, be under- 
stood that much of the apparatus now in use under the 
Montessori patented system of education has been in 
use for a score of years in many of the training schools for 
feeble-minded children. Similar apparatus can be made 
and used by anyone who wishes to do so. The most 
valuable part of the Montessori apparatus is not origi- 
nal and very similar forms just as useful for educational 
purposes may be made in any manual training shop. 



THE MONTESSORI METHODS 191 

The Manual of the Course of Study of the Bancroft 
Training School for Subnormal Children just men- 
tioned, contains, with very few exceptions, everything 
of real value in the line of motor-sensory training that 
is in the Montessori book and much besides that is 
of great value. Moreover, it leaves out the mere 
personal discussion which, while it makes the Montes- 
sori book readable, often obscures the real points of 
her methods. 

Dr. Farrington's article on "Systematic Motor 
and Sensory Training" in The North American Journal 
of Homoeopathy for March, 1910, gives, in the main, 
the essentials of the methods of sense training advo- 
cated by Montessori, in a very terse and clear manner. 

It can be readily seen by comparing the exercises 
in sense training recommended by Montessori with 
those described in the second part of this book, that 
there is nothing essentially new in this the most im- 
portant part of the Montessori system. 

The Method of Learning to Write and to Read 

The most important contribution that Montessori 
has made to education is her method of teaching little 
children to develop the pen holding muscles of the hand 
preparatory to learning to write. 

For this purpose a series of geometrical forms in 
metal is used. The child places these forms or frames 
upon paper and by means of them draws outlines 
with colored pencils on the paper. On removing the 
frame there remains on the paper the outline of a geo- 
metric figure. "This is the first time," says Mon- 
tessori, 2 "that the child has reproduced through design 
a geometric figure. Until now, he has only placed the 
geometric insets above the figures delineated on the 



2 The Montessori Method, p. 272. 



192 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

three series of cards. He now places upon the figure, 
which he himself has drawn, the metal inset, just as he 
placed the wooden inset upon the cards. His next act 
is to follow the contour of this inset with a pencil of a 
different color. Lifting the metal piece, he sees the 
figure reproduced upon the paper in two colors. Here, 
for the first time is born the abstract concept (?) of the 
geometric figure, for, from two metal pieces so different 
in form as the frame and the inset, there has resulted 
the same design which is a line expressing a determined 
figure." The child thus learns to trace lines deter- 
mining figures preparatory to tracing graphic lines that 
will determine words. 

Next follow exercises for developing the muscles 
that hold and move the pen or pencil in writing. These 
consist of filling in the outlines the pupil has drawn 
with the colored pencil, the child being taught not to 
allow the lines he makes to extend beyond the contour. 
In these filling-in-exercises, the child performs again 
and again the movements necessary to develop the pen 
or pencil holding muscles, and this work is done without 
fatigue. At first the child fills in all sorts of forms; 
rectangles, triangles, ovals, using whatever colors he 
wishes, but later on he is limited to two colors, dark 
blue and brown, these being the colors of the insets 
and the metal frames. He is thus enabled to produce 
the appearance of the forms he used in making the 
contours. Through practice of these exercises, the 
child soon learns to keep within the limits of the out- 
lines and the strokes of the pencil "at first short and 
confused, gradually become longer and more nearly 
parallel until in many cases the figures are filled with 
uniformly regular strokes extending from the upper to 
the lower side of the figure. When this stage is reached 
it is evident that the child has mastered the art of 
holding the pen or pencil. Montessori says of these 



THE MONTESSORI METHODS 193 

exercises: "I do not believe that any means can be 
found which will so successfully and in so short a space 
of time, establish this mastery, and with it all the child 
is happy and diverted." Little children of four and 
five years of age, in this way gain, in a few months, power 
in this particular equal to that of the third grade pupil 
in the Italian schools. 

The children like these exercises and continue 
them even after they have learned to write, thus 
"perfecting themselves in writing, without actually 
writing." 

The letters of the alphabet are taught by means 
of exercises that establish the visual-muscular image of 
the letter forms and establish the muscular memory of 
the necessary movements in writing these letter forms. 

The single letters of the alphabet cut from sand- 
paper are mounted on cards, while groups of letters 
are mounted on larger cards. The vowels are cut from 
light-colored sandpaper and mounted on dark colored 
cards; the consonants and the groups of letters are cut 
from black sandpaper and mounted on white cards. 
In teaching the letters the sound and not the name of 
the letter is given. Since, in the Italian language, each 
letter represents a constant sound, the basis for pho- 
netic reading is thus easily laid. The matter is much 
more difficult in a language like English, which pos- 
sesses many phonetic irregularities. 

As soon as the child is given the sound of the letter 
he is taught to trace it with his fingers, using the same 
movements that would be used in writing. "Knowing 
how to trace" will consist in knowing the direction 
in which a graphic sign must be followed. The rough- 
ness of the letter serves as a guide to keep the fingers in 
their proper path. After some time given to tracing, 
Dr. Montessori's children discover almost spontaneous- 
ly and with great delight that they can write. 



194 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

The Didactic Apparatus 

The apparatus of the Montessori schools shows 
plainly that it had its origin in schools for the feeble- 
minded. It is, to say the least, rather unattractive. 
It would seem that the exercises in buttoning, lacing, 
tying and the other practical exercises might be much 
better taught by means of dressing and undressing 
dolls. In this way the exercises could be given more 
human interest, and if the dolls were rightly chosen 
and dressed, the work could be made highly educative 
on the informational side. The spiritual or personal 
side of the Montessori material is almost nil. This 
would not be so if the sense exercises were a little more 
closely connected with real life, as they would be, pro- 
vided dolls were used for teaching the practical exer- 
cises in place of the rather unattractive frames of the 
Montessori apparatus. 

The kindergarten and the Montessori schools 
have yet to learn the value of dolls as a means of teach- 
ing many practical as well as spiritual things to young 
children. 

The Mother's Place in Education 

Montessori 3 said in her inaugural address at the 
opening of one of the Houses of Childhood that "man 
is not only a biological but a social product, and the 
social environment of individuals in the process of 
education, is the home." This is true, but Montessori 
fails to add that the most significant factor in the home 
is the mother, and goes on to show that her houses of 
childhood will enable the mothers of little children to 
become wage-earners by providing a place for the chil- 
dren to stay and be properly cared for while the moth- 
ers are away from home. Thus the motherly care of 
little children is communized and the poor mother may 

3 See page 64 of The Montessori Method. 



THE MONTESSORI METHODS 195 

now "say like the great lady, 'I have left my son with 
the governess and the nurse.'" 

Montessori with her communizing ideas is sowing 
the seeds of a dangerous doctrine. The best things 
in the spiritual world have come from the mother love 
which develops in a true home where the mother has 
the direct care of her children. So far as economic and 
social conditions have made it necessary for the mothers 
to leave their children at home while they are called 
away to perform the duty of wage-earners, such 
economic and social conditions are bad and the endeavor 
of society should be to eliminate such conditions. 
Pestalozzi and Froebel were great to the extent that 
they emphasized the element of mother love in educa- 
tion. The two words, "mother" and "child" were 
most significant to Froebel. 

So far as I can see this spiritual mother element 
is lacking to a large degree in the Montessori schools. 
The children are little "men" and "women." When 
you read about them, they seem wise beyond their 
years. One does not think of them as the buoyant 
children of Froebel, real children who live out their 
childhood naturally. For her schools, Montessori has 
coined the word "directress" to take the place of the 
word "teacher." The dry material teaches; the di- 
rectress merely observes. Here is system teaching. 

Undoubtedly, many teachers in our modern 
schools do too much work for the children and talk too 
much to the children, but it is well not to go to the 
other extreme and almost eliminate the personality 
of the teacher from the school. Teaching or education 
is most of all a personal thing, where heart touches heart 
and soul is enkindled by soul. As a model to be imi- 
tated, as a light to be followed, the teacher should 
occupy a prominent place in every school. A child 
develops his individuality not alone by doing things, 



196 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

but by imitating more mature personalities. His 
liberty allows him only to act within certain limits. 
He learns these limits by listening to the advice and 
warnings of his elders, and by observing and imitating 
their acts. An intelligent loving mother is the best 
teacher of these limits to little children; next to her we 
place the consecrated teacher, one who is imbued with 
the ideas for which Pestalozzi and Froebel stood. Such 
a mother or such a teacher will need little didactic 
apparatus to lead her children through a normal 
childhood. It was Froebel's idea, as one will see by 
reading his interpretation of his scheme of education 
given in the translation of his book, "Education by 
Development," to have the mother teach her child 
until it had learned to read. As Hughes 4 well says: 
"Froebel studied the child to help it to self -education, 
to discover the order of its mental and moral awakening 
and the way in which it becomes acquainted with its 
environment and enters into social relationships and 
claimed that all educational methods should be in 
harmony with the natural processes of the child's own 
evolution." 

Here are stated the basal principles of Montes- 
sori's auto-education and much more in addition. 
With Froebel, the mother or teacher was a thought 
director and stimulator. The development of the 
child was prophetic as well as vestigial, reaching out 
toward a vast future as well as harking back to a vast 
past. It was this idea that led Froebel to place the 
human, the moral or the spiritual side in his educational 
system above the physical, although he did not fail 
to recognize the significance of the latter. His whole 
idea, as Hughes so well shows, was to develop in the 
child apperceptive centers of feeling as well as of 



4 Froebel's Educational Laws, p. 1. 



THE MONTESSORI METHODS 197 

intellect. If we view his doctrine of symbolism, upon 
the soundness of which Dr. Harris said Froebel's system 
must stand or fall, in the light of gradually leading the 
child to see, perhaps rather feel, the spiritual behind 
the material, of developing in him the feeling of awe 
and reverence (the basis of all true morality and re- 
ligion) in the presence of nature and of the sublime 
natural and human forces, it loses its abstruseness and 
becomes illuminating and inspiring to both teacher 
and child. This symbolism or mystical side of Froe- 
bel's system which looks upon nature, both animate 
and inanimate, as revealing the divine unity, is really 
its enduring principle. It is, indeed, the basis of all 
spiritual evolution; because of it Froebel's system will 
live where systems, like that of Montessori, which lack 
it will pass into obscurity. It is only the sublime 
insight of symbolism that could lead a man to pray 
as did Froebel that it might be given him "to educate 
men and women who shall stand with their feet on God's 
earth while their minds penetrate God's heaven, who 
shall be rooted like the tree in the one, that like the 
tree they may aspire toward the other; whose hearts 
shall unite earth and heaven, being fed by the rich and 
varied life of the world, and filled with the blessed peace 
of God." 

Montessori has, however, done the educational 
world true service and has, furthermore, written a very 
helpful book which may be read with profit by all 
teachers if they will take it up with the understanding 
that Montessori has not spoken the last nor neces- 
sarily the best word in education. She has said much 
that is good, a large part of which had already been 
said by other writers, especially by Froebel. Systems 
of education to be really valuable must grow; they do 
not spring Minerva-like from the brain of any indi- 
vidual. 



Part Two 
SUBNORMAL CHILDREN 

The Organization of Auxiliary or Special Schools and Classes 
for Mentally Defective Children 



SCHOOLS FOR MENTALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN 



Chapter One 

SPECIAL OR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS AND CLASSES 
FOR MENTALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN 

Introduction 

The chapters which follow treat specifically special 
schools and classes for abnormal children. There are 
several other kinds of special classes in the public 
schools. The special classes for the blind, the deaf, 
cripples, epileptics, and stutterers and stammerers are 
all represented in different school systems of the 
United States. There are also, as we have seen, the 
special disciplinary or training classes for so-called in- 
corrigible or unruly pupils, and there are the ungraded 
classes for foreign speaking pupils as well as such classes 
for normal pupils who are either behind in their work 
or who wish to hurry along in their studies in order to 
make a grade. Again, we have classes for specially 
gifted pupils and classes for boys and girls who have not 
been able to complete the sixth grade by the age of 
fourteen and who are assigned to classes where special 
emphasis is placed on manual and industrial work. 
All these classes are still in the plastic period of develop- 
ment. In some cities that have had such classes for 
a number of years, the several types of pupils are very 
poorly differentiated. The incorrigible, the mentally 
defective, the backward, the cripple, and the epileptic 
are often found in the same class. In a large city, of 
course, this is inexcusable. Such pupils do not belong 
together. 



2 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

It will be one of the main aims of this study to 
show the need of special classes for the mentally 
deficient pupils. By establishing and properly organ- 
izing such classes, much may be done to increase the 
efficiency of any school system which has 1,500 or more 
pupils. By allowing mentally defective pupils to at- 
tend the regular classes much injury is done them as 
well as their normal classmates. They are forced to 
attempt work which they cannot do, and their normal 
classmates are forced to wait while the teacher labori- 
ously tries to teach the former something they cannot 
comprehend. One mentally deficient pupil in a class 
is said to take more of the vital energy of a teacher 
than five normal pupils, with little or no result to show 
for the energy expended. 

There are a number of authorities who maintain 
that the special classes in the public schools should be 
for the simply backward pupil, the pupil who is normal, 
but of slow mental development. The really mentally 
deficient pupils, such writers would place in institutions 
where they would have permanent care at least for the 
major part of their lives. This, undoubtedly, is a wise 
plan. That the really feeble-minded or mentally defi- 
cient pupil, after he has reached adolescent years, 
is a serious menace to society, so long as he is at large, 
cannot be disputed. Such children should for life be 
under the direction and protection of some well organ- 
ized institution. In such institutions they may lead 
happy and even useful lives. Left to themselves they 
will, as a rule, lead a precarious existence. Further- 
more, unless under restraint they are almost sure to 
reproduce their kind either legitimately or illegitimately. 

It is well to look forward to the time when every 
large city will have an institution where such children 
may be permanently cared for and when every county 
or district shall have such an institution to which men- 



SCHOOLS FOR MENTALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN 6 

tally deficient children from certain areas may be sent 
for permanent care and protection. It is not too much 
to expect that such an ideal may be realized within the 
next few decades. It must, in fact, be realized unless 
the communities are willing to be swamped in degen- 
eracy, vice, and crime. 

Dr. William Healy 1 writes: Eight hundred con- 
secutive unselected offenders" (from the file of the 
Chicago Juvenile Court) "show seven and a half per 
cent, known epileptics, others suspected. They are 
the most dangerous and incalculable criminals. Pleas- 
ant one day, vicious the next, committing heinous 
crimes: about twenty per cent, of the same group 
feeble-minded, most of them high grade and readily 
overlooked in court procedure; after all, fairly good 
talkers." 

In the meantime, however, something must be 
done to temporarily meet the needs of the really men- 
tally deficient children. In Germany such mentally 
deficient children are kept in the public schools until 
they have reached the age of fourteen when they are 
turned out upon the community to meet their more or 
less unhappy fates. The condition is similar in Eng- 
land where the pupils are kept in the special schools 
until the age of sixteen and then turned out to shift 
for themselves. The careers of these children show that 
very few of them ever become really self-supporting. 
Especially is this true in the large cities. In the 
smaller towns and country villages the mentally defi- 
cient person stands a better chance of eking out an 
existence. Goddard has justly criticised the German 
and English methods of disposing of their mentally 
deficient, and he has made a strong plea for America 



1 Quotation from article "From the Report of Committee on 
Provision for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic." The Training 
School, May 1912, p. 46. 



4 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

to learn a lesson from their mistakes, by providing in 
America, as soon as possible, proper custodial care for 
all mentally deficient persons. This must ever be the 
aim. There are, however, several preliminary steps 
leading up to this ideal. 

In the first place we do not even know how many 
mentally deficient children or persons there are in the 
United States. In only a very few places has any 
census of these persons been taken. We have several 
general estimates but these are probably too small. 
We know the results of the census taken in Great Brit- 
ain and, of course, we may draw certain inferences from 
that study as to the conditions in our own country. 
Philadelphia has lately taken a census of the mentally 
defective pupils in the public schools. Some 1,700 
pupils have been found. Only a small fraction of these 
pupils are being given instruction in special schools. 
Furthermore, this census does not apply to the children 
of the parochial schools, and the number of such chil- 
dren is large and, as they represent the poorer class of 
homes, it may be inferred that the percentage of de- 
fectives among them is relatively large. The first 
step then is to ascertain the number of mentally defi- 
cient pupils needing special instruction. The next 
step is to provide special schools in connection with the 
regular public school system to take care of such pupils 
until such time as they may be transferred to the per- 
manent care of a special institution. 

In the following pages short descriptions are given 
of the development of auxiliary or special schools and 
classes in Europe and the United States. 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 



Chapter Two 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUXILIARY SCHOOLS 
IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 

The Auxiliary Schools of Germany 

Maennel in his "Vom Hilfsschulwesen, " of which 
there are two English translations, claims that the first 
special or auxiliary class for feeble-minded children 
was established by the school board of Halle in Prussian 
Saxony in September, 1859, following a plan advocated 
by Mr. Haupt, a principal of one of the Halle schools. 
In this class seventeen defective children were to be 
taught for some two hours each day. In speaking 
of this class Maennel says: "Quite a period of time 
passed before this new plan of instruction obtained daily 
in a single room for a class made up of children from 
the schools for the poor and from the folk schools, and 
finally included twenty hours of work per week. Still 
the credit of founding the first auxiliary class is to be 
conceded to Principal Haupt who died in 1904, after 
long and effective service as privy councilor and school 
superintendent at Merseburg. " 

W. Henz, in treating the subject of auxiliary schools 
in his "Leitfaden der gesamten Heilpadagogik " (Text- 
book of General Curative Pedagogy), 1909, does not 
see fit to give Halle the credit of establishing the first 
auxiliary class. He begins his historical account with 
a description of the movement led by Kern and Stotz- 
ner which resulted, in 1867, in the founding of the aux- 
iliary class in the city of Dresden. 



D SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

It would appear also that the auxiliary class which 
was founded at Elberfeld in 1879 could lay more real 
claim to being a true auxiliary class than that which 
had its beginning at Halle. 

According to Henz, special schools and classes were 
first advocated by Dr. Kern, the founder of the first 
asylum for idiots in Germany. In 1863 he delivered, 
in Leipzig, a lecture in which he advocated such schools 
and classes for children who could not be instructed 
advantageously in the regular classes of the. Folk 
Schools. A year later Stotzner, a teacher of the deaf 
and dumb, further developed the idea in an article 
entitled, "Schools for Feeble-Minded Children." Soon 
after, a meeting of the friends of the movement was 
held in Hanover at which Stotzner repeated his appeal 
in behalf of his endeavors. He maintained that in 
all large cities schools should be established for feeble- 
minded children, in order that these children, who later, 
for the most part, might become a burden to the com- 
munity, might through proper personal supervision 
and instruction be led to become useful members of 
society. 

The first class for feeble-minded children was 
opened four years later in Dresden, chiefly through the 
zeal of Stotzner who worked indefatigably for the carry- 
ing out of his idea. 

At the outset the movement for the establishing 
of auxiliary schools and classes made slow progress. 
Many well-known pedagogues were suspicious of these 
schools. The purpose of the new arrangement was 
not clear to many. After a time things began to be 
more hopeful. Several cities established auxiliary 
classes with results that gave courage to the promoters 
of the new movement. 

In May 1894, an official decree was passed by the 
Imperial Board of Education in Prussia, authorizing 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 7 

the establishment of such schools for abnormal pupils 
of compulsory school age. A second decree, April 
6th, 1901, accorded the auxiliary schools warm recog- 
nition and laid out plans for their further extension. 

The growth of the auxiliary schools in Germany 
may be well seen from the following figures. In 1879 
Germany had seven auxiliary schools; in 1889, twenty- 
one auxiliary schools; and in 1894, thirty auxiliary 
schools with one hundred and fifteen teachers, one 
hundred and ten classes, 2,290 pupils; in 1903, one 
hundred and sixty-eight auxiliary schools with about 
six hundred teachers, five hundred and eighty-eight 
classes and 11,016 pupils; in 1907, three hundred and 
fourteen auxiliary schools about one thousand teachers, 
nine hundred and twenty-one classes, and 20,151 pupils. 

In 1910, of the 40 German cities having over 
100,000 inhabitants, all had organized auxiliary 
schools. A great many of the cities of less than 100,000 
have no auxiliary schools or classes, while some of the 
smaller places have such classes, Wasungen, with only 
5,000 inhabitants, being one. 

In 250 places the boys and girls are taught in 
mixed classes; four cities separate the sexes; four have 
both mixed and separate classes. 

The proportion of boys to girls is 1 to .78. 

It is interesting to note the proportion of mentally 
defective to normal pupils in the schools of the several 
cities. In Leipsic, in 1907, out of every 100 pupils 0.67 
were mentally defective; in Munich, 0.48; in Berlin, 
0.92. Meiningen had the highest number, 3 in every 
100; Dresden the lowest, 0.31 in a hundred. To every 
1,000 inhabitants in the German cities supporting 
auxiliary schools there are 1.56 mentally defective 
school children. Reckoning on the same basis, there 
would be in the whole of Germany some 90,000 men- 
tally defective school children. 



8 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

According to Schroter, in October 1910, some 
30,000 of these children were enrolled in auxiliary 
schools and some 7,000 in institutions. These figures 
show the work that still remains to be done in Germany, 
the birthplace of the auxiliary school, in the way of 
providing educational opportunities for this class of 
unfortunate children. 

Great differences exist in the organization of the 
German auxiliary schools; in 1910, 120 auxiliary schools 
had three grades or sections; 63, six; 59, four; 40, two; 
20, five; 11, one; 5 had seven; one had eight. In 
schools of three grades or sections, each grade is usually 
taught as two divisions. 

Teachers in the auxiliary schools receive in the 
different cities from 50 to 450 marks each year more 
pay than the teachers in the regular schools. 

The practice pursued in the German schools of 
allowing a mentally defective child to vegetate or retro- 
grade in the regular classes for one or two years before 
he is sent to the auxiliary class is a questionable one. 
It obtains on the score that the child should have every 
opportunity to prove his ability to do the normal school 
work before he is placed in the class for defectives. 
It is, of course, commendable to seek to safeguard the 
misplacing of normal children in classes for subnormal. 
It is, however, a reflection on the science of medical 
psychology, if such a term may be used, to assume that 
it is not possible, in the great majority of cases, to 
determine whether a child is mentally defective or not 
within a few months after he has entered school. In 
the training and teaching of both the normal and the 
subnormal child, the early years are precious years 
and to allow these years to run to waste in the case of 
the mentally handicapped is especially reprehensible. 

There has been some tendency to follow this vi- 
cious German practice in some of the other countries. 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 9 

It is to be hoped, however, that common sense and 
humanity will lead all intelligent directors of special 
schools to see that the welfare of the mentally defective 
child demands that his defect be discovered as early 
as possible and that this can be done accurately if the 
school physician has the time and requisite knowledge 
for making the necessary mental tests. Such tests 
should be made by the end of the first six months, at 
the longest, after the child has entered school. The 
Binet Scale would well serve the purpose. The deter- 
mination, thus early, that a child is mentally defective 
and the assigning of such a child to a special school or 
class are in the interests of the child himself, his normal 
mates, and the teacher of the normal children who 
cannot afford to have his energy sapped by the presence 
of even one subnormal child in the class. 

The Special Schools in England 

Auxiliary classes were established in England in 
1892, and were made part of the public school system 
by the Defective and Epileptic Act in 1899. This act 
makes provision (not compulsory) for the education 
in special classes, of children "who, not being imbecile, 
and not merely dull or backward, are incapable of 
receiving proper benefit in the ordinary public elemen- 
tary schools." 

These schools and classes must be so organized 
as to meet certain conditions as to school buildings, 
medical supervision, the admission of children, the 
maximum number in each class, the number of school 
hours, the course of study, and the qualifications of the 
teachers. 

The aim of these schools is "to make every child 
profit by the instruction given, so that each, according 
to his ability, may enter the ranks of the wage-earning 
community. " Some have estimated that about a third 



10 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

of the children attending these schools should, after at- 
taining the age of twelve years, be placed under perma- 
nent care in institutions and that a third more should 
have more or less close supervision after leaving school. 
The English auxiliary school movement had its 
beginning in Leicester, but arrangements for the estab- 
lishment of auxiliary schools were made soon after in 
London and a special inspector was appointed to take 
the supervision of these schools. There are now special 
schools in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and 
other large cities, but the smaller cities and the country 
at large have made little provision for the care of men- 
tally defective children. The special schools of Eng- 
land are usually classed under two heads: (1) schools 
for the mentally defective, and (2) schools for the 
physically defective. The former correspond to the 
"auxiliary schools" of Germany; the latter, the schools 
for the physically defective, have been more widely 
developed in England than in any other country. 
They include schools for cripples and schools for 
epileptics. The term, "physically defective, " as used 
for classification in the English schools does not include 
the blind and the deaf. It is not difficult for the medi- 
cal officers, according to a Report of the London County 
Council, to determine the physically defective and 
certify them as "fit to receive instruction in the par- 
ticular type of school to which they are admitted." 
Such children are usually suffering from the effects 
of injury or disease and can be readily noted as proper 
cases for special school instruction. It is, however, 
more difficult to determine just what cases should be 
assigned to the schools for the mentally defective as 
there is some difference of opinion as to what type 
should be placed in these schools. Tredgold is of the 
opinion that a comparatively large number of children 
are assigned to these schools who are not at all mentally 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 11 

deficient but merely backward or neglected. The 
number of mentally defective children on the school 
rolls for March 1908, was 6,159; of physically defec- 
tive, 2,392. During the year 1908, 273 epileptic chil- 
dren and 627 imbecile children were excluded from 
school, no provision being made for them. 

The day schools for the mentally defective num- 
bered eighty-two with an average of 22.6 pupils to a 
teacher, while the day schools for the physically defec- 
tive numbered twenty-eight with an average of 25.7 
pupils to a teacher. In addition there is a residential 
home for mentally defective boys which had, in 1908, 
an enrollment of thirty-two. In 1908 there were two 
hundred and seventy-two teachers in the schools for 
mental defectives, and ninety-three in the schools for 
the physically defective. Twenty-five nurses were 
employed in the schools for the physically defective. 
In addition, one hundred and thirty-nine attendants 
(bathing women, cooks, and ambulance attendants) 
were in the service of the special schools. 

The cripple children are furnished transportation 
to and from school in special ambulances belonging 
to the department. The schools for both the mentally 
defective and the physically defective are independent 
of the regular public schools and are maintained in 
separate buildings. These buildings have from two 
to twelve rooms. There are special centers where 
schools are maintained for the older boys. At these 
schools manual and industrial work is emphasized. 

Almost all the teachers in the special schools are 
women. In order to teach in these schools a teacher 
must pass an examination qualifying her to teach in 
the so-called "Infant Schools," corresponding to the 
kindergarten in the United States. Children are ad- 
mitted to the special schools at the age of five and 
many remain until the age of sixteen. Under the law, 



12 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

mental defect ceases at this age. Leathers, writing 
in the "Elementary School Teacher" for March 1910, 
shows the absurdity of this law as proved by the reports 
of after-care committees in many of the English towns. 
Reports from Liverpool show that only eighteen per 
cent, of the pupils have satisfactory records after 
leaving the special schools. Birmingham reports only 
sixteen per cent, of the cases under investigation as 
satisfactory. " It is evident, therefore, " says Leathers, 
"that the work of the special schools is at present 
nullified for want of legal provision for the permanent 
detention of the worst cases in custodial homes." 

Plan of Admission to English Special Schools 

If a child in the regular primary school is thought 
to be mentally defective he is sent to the local special 
school for examination by the school physician. After 
the examination he is kept at the special school, for 
observation. After this probationary period he may 
be returned to the regular school as being a normal 
child, retained in the special school until the age of 
fourteen or sixteen, or dismissed from school altogether 
as being too defective to profit by special school instruc- 
tion. No provision is made for the care of this latter 
class of children except in poor-houses. 

The Lancashire and Cheshire Society for the Per- 
manent Care of the Feeble-Minded was formed several 
years ago, largely through the efforts of Miss Denby 
of Manchester, a woman "who has devoted her life 
to the interests of the feeble-minded." This society 
has started at Sandlebridge a permanent home for 
feeble-minded boys and girls. 

Special Schools in Austria=Hungary 

The first auxiliary school in Austria was established 
at Vienna in 1885 with two classes. The school had, 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 13 

in March 1910, nine classes, and is the only auxiliary 
school in Vienna. Linz has a two-class school; Graz 
has two three-class schools, one for each of the sexes. 
Prague has five auxiliary schools (probably classes) 
with one hundred and sixteen pupils enrolled. Salz- 
burg and Nachod have auxiliary classes. Connected 
with the auxiliary schools in Vienna is a protective 
bureau which keeps in touch with the pupils after they 
have left school and advises the parents as to situations 
for the children. 

Hungary's first auxiliary school was opened in 
Budapest in 1900. In the beginning, the auxiliary 
school movement in Hungary was not without its 
opponents. It has, however, now proved its own worth 
and thus overcome opposition. The auxiliary school 
in Budapest is a state institution. It was installed 
in 1907 in a new building especially erected for the 
purpose. This building is probably the best auxiliary 
school building in the world. It has large, well 
lighted schoolrooms, two shower baths, play space on 
the roof, and a large yard. The building has eight 
classrooms with provision for one hundred and twenty 
to one hundred and thirty mentally deficient children. 
Director Eltes, who has charge of the school, is of the 
opinion that it is not well to bring together more chil- 
dren in one central building on account of the great 
distance they would have to come. The school had, 
in 1909, six graded classes with an enrollment of ninety- 
six pupils. The teaching corps consisted of a director, 
four male assistants, all specially trained for work with 
the mentally deficient and one female teacher in charge 
of the kindergarten. There is also connected with the 
school, a specialist in nervous diseases, an orthopedic 
physician and a specialist in diseases of the eye and ear. 
In connection with the school, is a day-home arranged 
for children whose parents are employed throughout 



14 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

the day. These children may remain at the school 
from seven o'clock in the morning until six in the even- 
ing. They are under the supervision of kindergarten 
teachers and are kept employed with games, singing, 
physical exercises,walks, stories, Froebelian occupations, 
and the like. Food is furnished these children free of 
charge. In 1907, a continuation school with three 
classes was arranged for pupils who had completed 
the auxiliary school course. The organization and the 
course of study are indorsed by the Minister of Educa- 
tion and attendance is compulsory for all feeble-minded 
children who are not continuing their education else- 
where. The school was attended in 1909 by about forty 
apprentices of the several trades and other lines of work. 

The teaching corps of the school has formed, for the 
further assistance of the pupils who leave the school, an 
aid society which has received for distribution over 
four thousand crowns. 

At this school a vacation course is given for teachers 
who wish to prepare themselves for teaching in the 
auxiliary schools. Those attending this course give 
in turn practical instruction to the pupils, under the 
supervision of the director of the school. They also 
hear lectures on psychopathology and child-study, on 
the physiology and training of the feeble-minded, and 
on the history,organization and methods of the auxiliary 
school. 

The school has a library for the children. It has 
also a professional library for the teaching body, con- 
taining many pedagogical books both in the native and 
in foreign languages. 

In this building the Imperial Physiological Lab- 
oratory has its quarters. The Director of this Labora- 
tory, Dr. Paul Rauschburg, a well-known psychiatrist, 
is special physician to the auxiliary school. In found- 
ing this government auxiliary school the administrative 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 15 

officers wished to establish a model school. The city 
of Budapest has profited by the example and has 
established, in connection with the folk schools, fifteen 
auxiliary classes. 

The cities of Szatmar, Eger, Csongrad, Kecskemet, 
and Debreczin all have auxiliary schools. 

In 1910 it was reported that in Austria-Hungary 
there were 41 auxiliary schools with an enrollment of 
some 1,524 pupils. 

Special Schools of Belgium 

On May 1, 1897, an auxiliary school for boys was 
opened in Brussels, Belgium. This school was for 
boys who may be classed under the name (anormaux 
pedagogique) of pedagogically abnormal. In com- 
menting on the establishment of this school, M. Leon 
Lepage says in his report to the Communal Council: 

"These abnormal pupils were scattered by chance in classes cor- 
responding to their ages and state of physical development, but it was 
to them an absolute impossibility to follow the same program of work 
as their normal mates and necessarily their presence in the class con- 
stituted a hindrance to the normal progression of the class studies, 
without taking into account the fact that they furnished a bad example 
to the other children. 

"For these abnormal pupils the time passed in the classes under 
such conditions was totally wasted; they simply vegetated with no 
mental profit, acquiring little by little a distaste for school. Their 
minds instead of being set to work were rather dulled until finally the 
day arrived when their age forced them to quit school and they left 
to re-enforce the army of the inefficient." 

Many attempts were made to better the condition 
of these unfortunates. 

At first they were placed in lower classes where the 
program being much simpler in its demands seemed 
better fitted to their aptitudes. The experiment 
brought no result; the indolent natures and natural 
slowness of these children were vicious examples for 
their young classmates. It was necessary to abandon 
the attempt. Later came the idea of establishing for 



16 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

them classes for retarded pupils, with an abridged 
program of studies. Instruction was limited to reading, 
writing, and the most elementary rules of arithmetic. 
This attempt failed also, for this instruction, necessarily 
mechanical, only increased the mental sluggishness of 
these children. 

"While we were seeking a solution of this important problem, 
several neighboring countries had likewise taken up a study of the 
question of abnormal children. These studies had shown the abso- 
lute necessity of establishing for such children special schools where 
they would receive instruction suited to their degree of development 
by the aid of specially adapted methods. 

"It was from their example that we were inspired to propose the 
establishment of the school we now occupy." 

The school opened with eight classes, enrolling 
two hundred and eighty-nine pupils, gathered from 
the regular schools of the city. The first care was to 
make out a program of studies which should reduce 
scientific and literary elements to the most extreme 
limits, in such a way as to make it possible to give the 
greatest importance to the other branches of study. 
The working time-table was laid out as follows: — 

Weekly Hours, 29 3-4. 

f Recreation 3 1-3 hours 

Physical ) Gymnastics 3 

Education 1 Excursions ' 3 

{ Manual Work 2 1-4 " 

Esthetic f Singing 11-2 " 

Education \ Drawing 1 1-2 

[ Geometric Drawing 1 

Scientific { Mental and Written Arithmetic ... 4 
Education \ Metric System 1 

[ Inventional Geometry 1 

Literary [ Reading and Story Telling 5 " • 

Civic and Moral \ Language 1 1-2 " 

Education [ Second Language 1 2-3 " 

A second school was started in Antwerp in 1899. 

There were, in 1907, in Brussels, twenty-one aux- 
iliary classes for boys and thirteen for girls, with an 
enrollment of five hundred and forty and two hundred 
and thirty-nine, respectively. 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 17 

There is one independent auxiliary school for boys 
with eleven classes. The other special classes are com- 
bined with the regular folk schools. The maximum 
number of pupils for each class is about twenty. The 
direction of the classes is in the hands of the teachers. 
There is medical supervision for every class, furnished 
by a chief physician and three assistants. 

There are also in Brussels special classes for chil- 
dren who are designated as " pedagogically retarded." 
Such children are backward because of bad environ- 
ment, poor training, irregular school attendance, or 
sickness. They have no mental defect. 

Dr. Ley reports in the Handbuch der Heilpdda- 
gogik that the best organized auxiliary school in Bel- 
gium is in Ghent, founded in 1904. The director of 
this school is a physician ; the teaching force is made up 
of persons who have had special training in institutions 
for the mentally defective. There is a clinical labora- 
tory in connection with it. 

There are also auxiliary schools in Molenbeek, 
Saint Jean, and Anderlecht. 

Nyms 1 says there are in Belgium 8,700 mentally 
defective children who are excluded from school and 
80,000 pedagogically retarded children who do not find 
the ordinary school fitted to their needs. 

There is in Belgium a society for the protection 
of abnormal children which has done much to bring- 
about the proper care and education of these unfor- 
tunates. This society exercises supervision over the 
pupils after they have left the auxiliary school. In 
order to remain in constant touch with these children, 
the society has arranged for monthly conferences with 
them. 



1 Article, L' Education des Enfants Anormaux. L' Enfance Anor- 
male, Bulletin Trimestriel de la Societe" Protectrice de l'Enfance 
Anormale. Vol. 5, No. 3. Apr. 1911. 



18 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Special Schools in Holland 

In Holland the development of the auxiliary school 
system has been rather limited. In 1896 one class was 
formed in Rotterdam and a second in 1898. The 
maximum number of pupils for each class is fixed at 
twenty. New pupils are admitted to the class only 
once a year. In April, 1907, a four-class school for 
retarded pupils was established. A society of women 
has arranged a kind of outside care system, while 
another society provides the poor children with clothing 
and food and makes provision for them in vacation 
colonies. A four-class auxiliary school was established 
in Amsterdam in 1899, and in 1901 another school of 
the same type was started in another part of the city. 
The auxiliary schools in this city exercise a sort of care 
over the pupils after they leave, seeking, chiefly, to keep 
these pupils in orderly ways. 

An auxiliary class was started as an experiment in 
The Hague in 1902, a second in 1903, while two more 
were established the following year. Other classes 
have since been established. The maximum number 
of pupils for each class is sixteen. In this city also 
there are school baths; food is furnished the poor 
children, and provision is made for them in vacation 
colonies. There is also an after care system. 

By the law of 1903 the auxiliary schools of Holland 
are separated from the jurisdiction of the public schools 
and classed with the institutions for the feeble-minded. 
The selection of children for these schools is carried out 
in a way similar to that in Germany. Both sexes are 
taught in the same class. Special instruction in articu- 
lation is given such pupils as have defective speech. 
There is instruction in hand work for both sexes. All 
instruction is based on object teaching and every en- 
deavor is made to correlate the several subjects of study 
and to relate them to practical life. All the auxiliary 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 19 

schools in Holland are under special supervision. The 
number of children in Holland who need special in- 
struction in auxiliary schools is estimated at about one 
and one-half per cent, of the general school enrollment. 

The Auxiliary Schools of France 

Maennel in his " Auxiliary Schools in Germany," 
written in 1905, makes the statement that "in France 
they are not yet fully convinced of the great value of 
a general treatment for the weakly endowed children." 

One is led to wonder at the slowness of the French 
in taking up this line of work. Binet, writing in 
Eos, in 1905, justly complained that the slowness 
of France in providing for her abnormal children is the 
more painful because Frenchmen were the first to 
formulate the principles for the training of abnormal 
children and the first to carry out experiments in this 
line. "The names of these pioneers, Itard, Esquirol, 
Bethomme, Ferrus, Falvert, Voisin and Seguin are 
regarded," says Binet, "as authorities everywhere except 
in France." Seguin, as we all know, was the first suc- 
cessful teacher of abnormal children and his book on the 
training of feeble-minded children is still a classic. 
France, however, has since waked up, passing in April, 
1909, a law permitting the establishment of special 
schools for retarded children. This law, according to 
a German authority on auxiliary schools, Theodor 
Heller, places France at the head in regard to auxiliary 
school legislation. It has been thought best to present 
this law in full, as a study of its features may be helpful 
to those who wish to frame laws relating to the estab- 
lishing of auxiliary schools. 

THE FRENCH AUXILIARY SCHOOL LAW. 
Article I. 
"On the request of communes and departments there may be 
established for abnormal children of both sexes: 

1. Auxiliary classes annexed to the regular elementary schools. 



20 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

2. Independent auxiliary schools with which may be connected 
a boarding school. 

Article II. 

The auxiliary classes shall receive children from six to thirteen 
years of age. 

The auxiliary schools may extend the age of school attendance up 
to sixteen years, giving at the same time both school and trade instruc- 
tion. 

The pupils of the auxiliary classes who at the thirteenth year are 
found to be unable to learn a trade may be admitted to the auxiliary 
school. 

Children whose cases are too serious for their education to be car- 
ried on in the home may be admitted to membership in the boarding 
school. 

Article III. 

To no auxiliary classes shall children of both sexes be admitted. 
The auxiliary schools may have under the same supervision two differ- 
ent divisions; a girls' division and a boys' division. 

Article IV. 
State aid for defraying expense of installation, of developing and 
extending such schools, will be apportioned according to the terms of 
Article VII of the Law of June 20, 1885. 

Article V. 
The ordinary expenses of the auxiliary schools and classes shall be 
borne by the communes and departments which establish them. Other 
communes and departments may contribute to the support of these 
schools. The expenses for instruction are charged to the state under 
the conditions provided for elementary and higher schools. 

Article VI. 
An auxiliary school of one commune may be established in the 
territory of another commune by mutual consent of the two communes. 

Article VII. 

The teaching body of the auxiliary schools and classes shall enjoy 
the same rights and privileges as the teaching body of the regular public 
schools. 

Supervision of the boarding schools shall be assigned to them. 

The directors shall be appointed by the Minister of Public Instruc- 
tion. The class teachers shall be nominated by the inspector of the 
academy and appointed by the prefect. They shall be chosen preferably 
from candidates who have the diploma granted to those qualified to 
teach mentally deficient children. Supervisors of the boarding school 
shall be nominated by the principal and appointed by the prefect. 

Article VIII. 

In addition to the regular fees, the teaching force of the auxiliary 
schools and classes shall receive compensation or privileges by reason 
of extra work assigned to it. 

Those teachers receiving a special diploma shall receive an extra 
stipend of 300 Fr. while they are connected with the auxiliary schools 
and classes. 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 21 

Article IX. 
The ministerial decree ordering the establishment of an auxiliary 
•chool or class shall determine for each of these the special conditions 
of its organization as follows: 

1 . The maximum number of pupils to be admitted to each division. 

2. The number of weekly periods of instruction, the length of the 
recitations and order of exercises each day. 

3. The conditions under which teachers shall be assigned to the 
different classes and divisions of the institution. 

Article X. 

The boarding school may be administered directly by the com- 
mune or the department; or its management may be assigned to the 
director under an agreement by which the head of the institution as- 
sumes charge of it at his own risk. 

These agreements are binding only after they have been approved 
by the Minister of Public Instruction, on the advice of the prefect. 
In the same manner agreements may be amended. 

The maximum rates exacted from families and charity foundations 
for the cost of board and half-board in each institution shall be fixed 
by the Minister of Public Instruction on the proposal of the General 
or Municipal Council, according to the judgment of the prefect. 

Article XI. 
The auxiliary schools and classes shall be subject: 

1. To the inspection carried out under the specifications provided 
by Article IX of the Law of October 30, 1886. 

2. To a medical inspection provided by the commune or depart- 
ment establishing the school or class. Every child shall be examined 
at least once each half year. These observations shall be recorded on 
an individual Health Record blank. 

Article XII. 

A committee consisting of the school inspector, and the director or a 
teacher of the auxiliary school, and of a physician shall determine what 
children shall be admitted or retained at the school and whether they 
shall be assigned to an auxiliary class or to an auxiliary school in case 
they are so defective as to be beyond instruction in the home. 

A member of the child's family shall always be invited to be present 
at the examination. 

Article XIII. 

A Committee of Patrons shall be connected with every auxiliary 
school. The members shall be appointed by the Minister of Public 
Instruction with the advice of the prefect. Women must form a part 
of the membership. A committee of administration appointed by the 
Municipal Council or the General Council, shall be placed over each 
auxiliary school. On this Council there shall always be a representa- 
tive of the Minister of Public Instruction, a representative of the prefect 
of the department in which the school is situated, and at least one 
physician. 

Article XIV. 

Decrees and resolutions passed with the advice of the Superior 
Council of Public Instruction shall determine the character of the 
program of instruction and the conditions under which the special 
certificate may be obtained. 



22 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Article XV. 
There will be determined by special decision the conditions under 
which: 

1. The assistant teachers, the supervisors and the master me- 
chanics employed in the auxiliary schools shall be paid. 

2. The compulsory participation of those appointed to the 
auxiliary schools in old age insurance. 

Article XVI. 
The aforesaid conditions in regard to State aid for the construction 
of auxiliary schools and for the recruiting of the teaching force, apply 
to institutions for the deaf and the blind, subject wholly to the Minister 
of the Interior. 

There were, in 1909, five auxiliary schools in Paris 
and two in Bordeaux. The auxiliary schools in Bor- 
deaux are excellently equipped and an attempt has been 
made to make them the very best, profiting by the 
experience of Belgium and Germany. An excellent 
study of these schools by M. Rotges appears in the 
January and February numbers of the French magazine 
" V Enfant" for the year 1909. 

Scotland 

In Scotland there are special schools in Edinburg, 
Glasgow and Govan. These special schools, according 
to the report of the Glasgow School Board, are provided 
for those children who because of mental or physical 
defect are unable to pursue with profit the instruction 
of the regular schools. In 1908 there were nineteen 
special school centers. In some of these centers 
provision is made for teaching both the mentally and 
the physically defective children. In other centers 
only one class of children is taught. 

In 1908 these schools had an enrollment of seven 
hundred and seventy pupils with seventy-six teachers 
and eleven nurses. 

Switzerland 

The first step towards founding an auxiliary school 
was taken in Basel in 1889. Several arrangements for 



AUXILIARY SCHOOLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 23 

the purpose of aiding feeble-minded pupils in their 
studies were in existence somewhat earlier, for example, 
in Chur, from 1881 on. 

The auxiliary schools in Switzerland, in consequence 
of the relatively small population of the different cities, 
are mostly one-class schools, and they are called 
"special classes." 

In 1907 there were twenty-nine cities that main- 
tained auxiliary classes. These classes numbered 
sixty-seven with an enrollment of some 1,415 pupils. 
Zurich had the largest number, 15 classes with 358 
pupils, while Geneva had nine classes with one hun- 
dred and sixty-five children. In 1909 there were in 
Switzerland 80 auxiliary classes, enrolling some 1,700 
pupils. 

Denmark 

Denmark's first auxiliary classes were established 
in Copenhagen, in 1900. There are no independent 
auxiliary schools. Three classes were then established 
and the next year three more were formed. In 1907 
there were thirteen classes with an attendance of some 
fifteen to twenty pupils for each class. There are also 
auxiliary classes in the cities of Fredericksborg, Aarhuus, 
and Aalborg. 

Norway 

The largest auxiliary school in Norway is at 
Christiania. The establishing of such schools was made 
permissible in the folk school law of 1889. 

The school at Christiania is quartered in two build- 
ings. It had , in 1909, forty-two classes enrolling six 
hundred and seventy children. There are seven grades, 
with several parallel classes. There is an auxiliary 
school at Bergen and one at Drontheim. Kristians- 
sund, Stavanger and Tromsoe have auxiliary classes. 
Children are assigned to these schools after one year of 



24 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

unsuccessful work in the folk schools. Children known 
to be mentally deficient may be admitted directly to 
the auxiliary school. 

Sweden 

The first auxiliary classes in Sweden were formed 
in 1905. Previous to the formation of these classes 
a census was taken of the mentally deficient children 
of school age in the city of Stockholm. This census 
showed that 0.35% of the school population were 
idiots, and 1.88% were mentally retarded (Zurilck- 
gebliebene). The auxiliary classes are connected with 
the regular schools. The number of pupils in these 
classes does not exceed twelve. 

Children are assigned to the auxiliary classes who 
have attended the classes of the folk schools from one 
to three years without success. The hours of the 
school day are from nine o'clock in the morning to 
one in the afternoon, with adequate intermissions. 
Special material is provided for object teaching. Only 
women are employed as teachers. 

In 1906, there were in Stockholm six classes with 
sixty-four pupils. There were auxiliary classes in 
Gottenborg, Malmo, Helsingborg, Gefle, and Upsala. 

The assignment of pupils to the auxiliary classes 
takes place upon the request of the teacher of the regu- 
lar school after a medical examination of the child has 
been made. Still the teacher of the auxiliary class 
has a right to reject any child that appears to him not 
fitted for the school. Milk and warm lunches are 
furnished to needy children. 

Russia, Italy, and Australia 

Russia and Italy have no auxiliary schools. 

Australia has a kind of auxiliary school organiza- 
tion in the form of special classes in the cities of Mel- 
bourne and Sidney. 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 25 



Chapter Three 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL SCHOOLS 
AND CLASSES IN THE UNITED STATES 

Providence, Rhode Island, is generally given the 
credit for having established, in 1893, the first "Special 
Class" in the United States. Dr. L. R. Klemm is, 
however, authority for the statement that the first 
school of the kind was established in Cleveland, Ohio, 
in 1875, by Superintendent A. J. Rickoff. It is a fact, 
however, that the establishment of nearly all the special 
schools in the United States has occurred within the 
last fifteen years and the great majority of them are 
from three to five years old. While we are not so far 
behind Germany in recognizing the need for establish- 
ing such schools as some writers would have us believe, 
we are, nevertheless, far behind in really meeting this 
need. Undoubtedly, the strict compulsory attendance 
laws of Germany are responsible to a large extent for 
the more general establishment of such schools. These 
mentally deficient children had to be kept in school. 
They could make no progress in the regular schools, 
hence special schools had to be provided for them. 
The lax compulsory attendance laws of America have 
made it possible to neglect this class of specially needy 
children. They were either not sent to school at all 
or when sent they were often dismissed by the teachers 
as too stupid to be benefited by school instruction. 
The stricter enforcement of the compulsory laws in 
several of the more progressive states, especially in 
the larger cities, has brought the needs of these children 



26 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

to the attention of the authorities, and their needs are 
now being slowly met. 

Special Classes in New York City 

The system of Special Classes has been, as we have 
already seen, rather fully developed in New York City. 
There are four types of special classes, called C. D. E. 
and the Ungraded classes. To the C. classes are as- 
signed the pupils who cannot speak English and they 
are given special drills in language and removed to a 
regular grade as soon as they have acquired enough 
proficiency in English to be able to carry on the work 
of the regular grade. The D. classes are for those 
pupils who are almost fourteen years old (the age at 
which pupils may leave school to go to work in New 
York) and who wish to go to work as soon as the age 
limit is reached. In the D. classes such pupils are given 
instruction in the essential subjects to enable them to 
meet the requirements in scholarship which they would 
not be able to do should they remain in the regular 
grades. The E. classes are for over-age pupils. By 
special instruction these pupils are encouraged and 
helped to skip or gain one or more grades. 

The classes just described are in addition to the 
ungraded classes for mentally defective pupils. These 
ungraded classes became part of the public school 
system of New York City in 1899. In Germany, the 
mother land of special schools, and in England, the 
mentally defective children are segregated in special 
school centers. Several cities in the United States 
have followed this plan, but New York City makes the 
special class a part of the regular school and the children 
of this class are encouraged to associate and play with 
their normal mates to the end that the mentally defec- 
tive child may grow up as far as possible in the environ- 
ment in which he is to live later. 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 27 

The Department of Ungraded Classes was organ- 
ized in 1906-7 under the direction of Miss Elizabeth 
Farrell, who was the teacher of the original class for 
mental defectives established in 1899. It is estimated 
that there are approximately 7,000 mentally defective 
children in the schools of New York City. Of this 
number about 1,700 were, in 1909, enrolled in some one 
hundred classes. In 1907 Dr. Isabelle Thompson 
Smart was appointed physician to the Ungraded Classes. 

The procedure for admitting a child to the Un- 
graded Class is as follows: 

In September and February the principals of the 
schools report to the inspector of the ungraded classes, 
on application forms (Form A), such pupils as are 
candidates for admission to the ungraded classes. As 
soon as possible after the receipt of these applications, 
the special physician examines the children either at 
the schools they are attending, or at her office at the 
Board of Education building. The data obtained in 
these examinations are recorded in duplicate on the 
medical examination blank (Form F) 1 . The children 
are also subjected to a pedagogical test by the Inspector. 
If, in the judgment of the special physician and the 
inspector, a child is thought to be mentally deficient, 
he is assigned to the ungraded class nearest his home. 
As yet (1910), according to the inspector, no satis- 
factory mental tests have been found. 

When, as the result of her examination, the special 
physician finds defects of eye, ear, nose, teeth, or throat, 
which demand medical or surgical treatment, she 
makes recommendations to the parents, suggesting 
treatment by the family physicians where the parents 
are able to pay for treatment, or at clinics, or dispen- 
saries, in case the parents have not sufficient means to 
pay for treatment. 

1 For these blank forms, see Appendix. 



28 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Children in the Ungraded Classes are treated as 
individuals. The physician re-examines all the pupils 
in these classes once each half-year, giving advice and 
suggestions to the teachers or parents as to further or 
neglected treatment. The data of these re-examina- 
tions are recorded in duplicate forms (Form G). One 
of these forms is retained at the school and the other is 
placed on file at the department office. 

The teacher records the school progress of the child 
four times a year in duplicate on a special card (Form 
H), one of which is retained in the room, the other being 
sent to the inspector's office. 

The subject matter of the course of study for the 
Ungraded Classes is made as practical as possible, the 
aim being to lead the pupils to become proficient in 
some line of industrial work, such as basketry, chair 
caning, sewing, dressmaking, carpentry and the like. 
Work along those lines is not well organized in the 
Ungraded Classes, but a beginning has been made. 
In addition to this work, the essentials of reading, 
spelling, writing, and the simple numerical operations 
are taught. This work, too, is made very concrete, 
objects being constantly employed, as abstract work 
is almost an impossibility to the mentally deficient 
child. 

New York, then, has special classes rather than 
special schools for mental defectives. The reasons 
given for this plan of organization are that it is more 
flexible, more easily established and better adapted 
"to the general education system of the city." 

The size of each class is limited to an enrollment 
of twenty with an average attendance of fifteen. One 
or two classes, rarely more, are established in connec- 
tion with some regular public school. The term "un- 
graded class" is used to avoid opprobrium. The term, 
"mental defective" is avoided. The "classes are con- 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 29 

sidered as special coaching classes, from which the child 
may be returned or promoted to the grades, if capable 
of being coached up to grade standards. This is 
necessary because there are so many grades of aments 
and some of the higher types are practically indistin- 
guishable from the worst cases of retardation due to 
neglect and malnutrition." 

It is the practice in Germany, England, France, 
and in certain cities in America to have the auxiliarj' 
schools in separate buildings apart from the regular 
school classes. Careful thought will, it seems to me, 
reveal the wisdom of this practice. These children are 
usually peculiar, different from their normal mates, 
and the inherent, unconscious cruelty of the ordinary 
boy and girl leads them to hector and annoy those less 
fortunately endowed mentally than themselves. In 
a great many places the children in the special classes 
are known to their mates as "crazies." A teacher of 
a special class in a large city school told the writer that 
he never took his children to the morning assemblies 
because of the glances and whispered gibes that were 
sure to greet them. The very fact that defective chil- 
dren need special treatment in regard to recreation, 
physical training, and manual work, militates against 
their proper teaching in the regular public schools. 
Of course there are educators who take the other side 
of the question. The following statement of the other 
side by such a well-known educator as Associate Super- 
intendent A. W. Edson of New York City is worthy 
of consideration. We think, however, that he takes 
too optimistic a view of the good that will come from 
the association of normal and subnormal. 

"The reason for having these children in a public school and yet 
in a class or group by themselves, is that they may be a part of the 
school and yet be where they may receive special instruction. In their 
journeys to and from home, in some of the general exercises of the school, 
and for a portion of the time on the playgrounds, they may and should 



30 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

participate with normal children, but in ordinary class work it is to their 
advantage to be in a class by themselves. Here they will receive 
individual attention; each child will receive instruction specially adapted 
to his needs; medical treatment will be provided or prescribed to meet 
the needs of the individual child. Only those children who are capable 
of intellectual improvement should be sent to the public school." 

One is led to believe that the argument in favor 
of having mentally deficient pupils associate with their 
normal fellows for the sake of the socializing effect has 
been over-drawn in New York. One is inclined to 
believe that while the system of ungraded classes in 
New York City is doing great good, it will, nevertheless, 
in the not distant future be discarded for the system 
which provides special school buildings, specially 
equipped, as educational centers for mentally deficient 
children. 

Special Classes in Philadelphia 

The system of special schools and classes in Phila- 
delphia is about ten years old. During this time ten 
special schools have been established besides a few 
special classes in the regular schools. The disciplinary 
classes and the auxiliary classes are housed in the same 
buildings. The tendency now is, however, to discard 
the special buildings and place the special schools in 
the regular school buildings. This, in view of the 
experience of all countries, seems to be a step in the 
wrong direction. It may be advisable from the point 
of economy, but it is certainly not from the point of 
view of pedagogy. This plan of discontinuing the 
special school centers will not, however, be a serious 
evil if Philadelphia succeeds in carrying out the plan 
of having only backward pupils in the special classes, 
the really mentally defective pupils being placed in 
institutions. This, as has been said elsewhere in this 
study, is what should be done if society is to deal 
properly with the feeble-minded child. 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 31 

A census of the number of mental defectives and 
backward children in the public schools of Philadelphia 
was taken in February, 1909, by a Committee on Special 
Education of the Philadelphia Teachers xAssociation. 

This census and a study of the inferences to be 
drawn from it, together with suggestions as to proper 
methods for dealing with the backward and mentally 
defective children of Philadelphia are published in 
Document No. 3 of the Philadelphia Teachers Asso- 
ciation. This census was taken by the principals of 
the several schools under the direction of the Bureau 
of Health, Dr. Walter S. Cornell being detailed by the 
Bureau of Health to assist in the investigation. The 
basis of classification for the census can be judged from 
the following quotation from the letter addressed to 
the principals: — 

"For the purpose of this investigation the children under con- 
sideration may be divided into five classes: 

"1. Feeble-minded children who should be under institutional 
care. 

"2. Incorrigible, truant, or vicious children who are also defective 
mentally and who should be segregated in special schools. 

"3. Incorrigible, truant, or vicious children of practically nor- 
mal mentality who should be segregated in special schools. 

"4. Backward children who require special educational methods 
in special classes or schools. 

"5. Dull children who may be taught in small or special classes 
but who, nevertheless, do not absolutely require such provision. 

"It is understood, of course, that the judgment of the teacher and 
principal, or the diagnosis of the medical inspector, if his assistance be 
enlisted in the collection of the data, is unofficial and carries with it 
no responsibility to maintain it." 

The census showed that out of 157,762 children 
in the public schools there were 4,940 children who 
came under classes 1, 2, 3, and 4 above enumerated 
and who needed special treatment. The above figures 
represent three and one-tenth per cent, of the total 
school enrollment. Of those pupils, 687 were in the 
grammar grades, making one and three-tenths per cent, 
of the total enrollment of the four upper grades; 4,253 



32 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

were in the four lower grades making three and nine- 
tenths per cent, of the total enrollment of these grades. 
Under Class 5, 6,603 pupils, 3,362 boys and 3,241 girls, 
were enumerated as dull, being four and two-tenths 
per cent, of the total enrollment. 

The census of the two special schools showed that 
out of the 881 pupils enrolled 51 were feeble-minded 
children who should have been enrolled in institutions; 
538 were incorrigible, truant, and vicious children, 
155 of them being reported as of low mentality; 213 
children were reported as backward who should be in 
special classes apart from the incorrigibles and truants. 

It is not clear from this report just how the degree 
of mental ability of the different classes of children 
was ascertained. On the basis of estimates, there 
should be among Philadelphia's 157,762 school children 
from 1,400 to 1,600 mentally defective children instead 
of the 442 enumerated. This 1,400 or 1,600 would not 
include the children in the disciplinary schools, although, 
doubtless, the early placing in auxiliary schools of many 
of the children who now come to the disciplinary schools, 
would render these children tractable and save trouble 
both for them and for the schools. 

The line of work laid out in Philadelphia is to pro- 
vide auxiliary classes for the backward children in 
connection with the regular schools. As we have al- 
ready stated elsewhere the establishment of special 
classes for mentally deficient pupils in connection with 
the regular schools has not proved the best method of 
dealing with such children in those places which have 
had most experience in dealing with this class of chil- 
dren. It would seem that many of the children who 
are classed in the Philadelphia report as "backward" 
are really mentally defective and that the proper place 
for them is in separate special schools. Philadelphia's 
aim to place the really mentally defective children in 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 



33 



custodial institutions is a laudable one, but the number 
of feeble-minded which the report gives as found among 
157,762 school children would appear far too small. 

' The report also emphasizes the point that one of 
the first conditions for success in dealing with special 
schools and classes is a supply of specially trained teach- 
ers, and supervisors. The report ventures the hope 
that, eventually, normal schools will give courses that 
will 'fit teachers to take charge of classes of mentally 
deficient pupils. 

Special Schools in St. Louis 
In his report for 1907 the late Superintendent 
Louis W. Soldan of St. Louis discussed at length the 
need of establishing special or auxiliary schools for 
children of defective mentality. He advocated the 
establishment of some seven two-class schools in rented 
dwelling houses in different parts of the city. 

These schools, he said, should be no mere make- 
shifts. The teachers should be specially qualified and 
should be such as would exert 'a strong personal influ- 
ence on the pupils, preserving, most of all, the mother 
attitude which would lead them to take an affectionate 
interest in every afflicted child. Each school should 
be in charge of a woman care-taker who would also act 
as helper to the teachers in caring for the children. 

A special supervisor should be appointed for these 
schools. Free transportation should be furnished 
children coming from beyond a reasonable walking 

Superintendent Soldan discusses the admission of 
pupils to these schools in the following paragraph: 

"Great care will be taken in admitting children to these > special 
schools. The backward or slow child of otherwise normal faculties 
should not be taken away from the regular school to which he belongs 
and care must be taken to limit admission to those c^ldren who are 
mentally defective and not merely slow. On the other hand imbecile 



34 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

or demented children who cannot profit by school instruction at all 
should not be admitted, because they are not amenable to the ordinary 
educational influences. The home or the asylum is the proper place 
for those unfortunates. The admission of children to the special schools 
should be in the hands of principal and teacher who make the recom- 
mendation, and the supervisor of defective schools, whose indorsement 
should be subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Instruction. " 

In addition to this an expert physician should 
examine each case. 

The last work that Superintendent Soldan ever 
did was on the course of study for these special schools. 

The program for these schools, according to Super- 
intendent Soldan, should be flexible but definite. The 
teacher should carefully plan her lessons. Children 
should be grouped for work and frequently reclassified. 
The small number of children to a teacher will make 
individual teaching possible. 

Subjects: Singing is of mental and physical 
importance ; it expands the lungs and develops the vocal 
organs and has a good effect on the emotional life of 
the child. Piano music will be an aid in marching and 
in the physical exercises. Great attention should be 
paid to spoken language and the children should be 
encouraged in every way to talk about things. In the 
conversation lessons the teachers should keep careful 
watch to see if the children are interested. There 
should be memorizing of simple poems. The work in 
reading and spelling should be adapted to the abilities 
of the children and reading lessons should be frequently 
acted out. There should be work in paper cutting, 
drawing and writing. General information talks should 
be emphasized. Very likely Superintendent Soldan 
would have added certain work along the lines of 
manual training for the boys, and domestic science for 
the girls, but the course of study was lying unfinished 
on his desk when he was stricken by sudden death. 

The schools advocated by Superintendent Soldan 
were established the following year under the special 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 35 

supervision of Mrs. Cunningham. The following quo- 
tation from her report concerning the work is of interest. 

"In our effort to help our charges, we have endeavored to reach 
them in a different manner from that pursued with the normal child. 
These defective children have been in the grades two, three, four, and 
some as many as six or seven years. Efforts to teach them to make 
simple arithmetical calculations have failed, under most skillful hand- 
ling. The children have become discouraged. They have acquired 
a distaste for these subjects. Our aim was to interest them in these 
things when they were ready for them. They were taught number 
through the manual training work, through the improvised steel and 
toy money, the measures, the clock face, the games and other concrete 
material. The reading is helped and language as well by excursions 
to parks, markets, and stores. The child upon his return has some 
ideas that he is anxious to communicate to others. 

"Hand work and particularly manual training we found of great 
importance. It was sometimes surprising to see the boy who labored 
patiently with a simple little problem in numbers take up his saw and 
plane and forthwith become apparently regenerated. He was a new 
boy ; his intellect did not lag even when signs of physical fatigue became 
but too evident. The defective boy or girl is happiest when he or she 
is making something, be it good or bad when finished. Success has been 
achieved through the effort to make something. 

"Our work is as yet new to us; we are not all agreed as to which is the 
defective and which is the backward child : we are not sure as to what is 
exactly the proper treatment of the backward child when we have 
defined him . But we are convinced that opportunities for psychological 
research are present on every side. The teacher in this work comes to 
realize that a proper valuation of the abnormal child aids in the develop- 
ment of the normal. And thus I hope the study of and the desire to 
help these poor unfortunate members of our community may be a true 
help to the strong as well." 

There is a special medical adviser connected with 
the schools and all children proposed for admission 
are examined with great care to prevent sending to 
these schools such children as should remain in the 
regular schools. The cost of these schools is $130.00 
per year per pupil, for teachers, books, supplies, inci- 
dentals, and rent. 

Of the success of these schools, Superintendent 
Blewett said in an address before the National Educa- 
tional Association, "At the end of a year and a half of 
experience we know very definitely that we have helped 
most of the pupils to a happier, healthier life." 



36 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Special Classes in Baltimore, Md. 

The city of Baltimore reports two classes for epilep- 
tic children, two for mental defectives, and nineteen 
classes for backward children. 

Baltimore was the first city in the United States to 
establish special classes for epileptic children. These two 
classes have (1910) a membership of only eight or ten 
pupils each, it being found difficult to persuade parents 
to send their epileptic children to these schools. It is 
probable that the Board of Education of Baltimore will 
bring the membership of these schools up to twelve or 
fifteen by allowing mentally deficient children to be 
admitted to them, although the wisdom if not the econ- 
omy of this plan may well be questioned. According 
to some authorities, however, the fits or spells of the 
epileptics do not disturb mentally deficient children as 
they do normal children, hence the mentally deficient 
and the epileptic may be taught in the same class. 

As can be seen from the number of classes reported, 
no adequate provision is made for the instruction of 
mentally deficient pupils in Baltimore. 

Arrangements have been made whereby pupils 
who are thought by the teachers to be mentally defi- 
cient may be examined at a clinic established at Johns 
Hopkins under the Phipps Donation. 

The classes for backward children as arranged at 
School No. 20 at Baltimore resemble very much the 
so-called "furthering classes" of the Mannheim system. 

Special Classes in Washington, D. C. 

Much has been done in the last few years to develop 
the special class system in Washington, D. C. The 
schools for the mentally defective pupils are in 
rented dwelling houses. While these houses have, of 
course, not all that could be wished for in the way of 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 37 

appointments for school needs, yet they serve the pur- 
pose for which they are intended very well and the 
pupils are much better off in these school buildings than 
they would be if assigned to quarters in one of the large 
public school buildings. Nearly all of the centers are 
equipped with special rooms for manual training and 
domestic science, the equipment along these lines being 
the best that the writer has observed in his visits to 
the special schools of several cities. It has been found 
in Washington that the children of both the auxiliary 
classes and the disciplinary classes are very much in- 
terested in learning to use the typewriter. The devel- 
opment of the muscles of the fingers brought about by 
practice on these machines is thought to have a direct 
effect on the mental development of the child. A great 
many typewriters have been supplied to the special 
schools and a special supervisor of typewriting has 
general supervision of the work. The teachers of the 
schools are very enthusiastic over the benefit the chil- 
dren have derived from this work. It would seem as 
if Washington had discovered a valuable means in the 
typewriter for training the mentally defective child. 

Special Classes in Providence, R. I. 

The first public day schools for mentally deficient 
children in the United States, according to most writers 
on the subject, were started in Providence, Rhode 
Island, in December, 1896. A second class was opened 
in December, 1897, and a third in the same month in 
the following year. They are called " schools for back- 
ward children." The number of these classes has not 
increased since 1898. The membership of each class 
averages about fifteen pupils. The ages of the pupils 
Tary from seven to fourteen years. The largest number 
of the pupils are classified as doing the work of the first 
of lowest primary grade. In 1909, out of a total en- 



38 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

rollment of forty-one in the three schools, twenty-seven 
were in the first grade, six in the second grade, six in 
the third and only two in the fourth. 

These schools are under the special supervision 
of the director of kindergartens. Some attempt is 
made to have the children entering these classes exam- 
ined by a specialist in mental diseases, yet these exam- 
inations do not seem to have been conducted in such 
a way that the data obtained is available for the guid- 
ance of the class teacher. It would appear that a sys- 
tem of blanks similar to those in use in the ungraded 
classes in New York City would be helpful in making 
the data obtained in the examinations of use to the 
class teacher. 

The director reports that the teachers of these 
special classes derived help during the year 1909 from 
a discussion of Maennel's "The Auxiliary Schools of 
Germany" in their teachers' meetings. These schools 
are housed in special buildings, there being usually one 
or more disciplinary classes in the same building with 
the special class. Some hand work, basketry, weaving, 
simple woodwork and the like is done by the children. 
The equipment for this work is meagre. The work 
along the line of muscular training seems poorly de- 
veloped. In fact, although Providence was the first 
city to inaugurate the special school movement in the 
United States, her work in this direction is far behind 
that of several other cities. 

Special Classes in Boston, Massachusetts 

The special classes for mental defectives in Boston 
were organized in 1898. The first class work began in 
January, 1899. These classes are held, as a rule, in 
the public school buildings. The sessions of these 
schools are from nine to one o'clock. The class mem- 
bership is limited to fifteen. 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES 39 

A child who is thought a fit case for a special class 
is reported to the physician in charge of these classes. 
The teacher of the special class nearest the home of 
the child visits the parents of the child and seeks to 
persuade them to allow the child to attend the special 
school. If they are willing, the child is admitted to 
the class for a probationary period of a few weeks during 
which time the teacher closely observes his mental 
and physical condition. At the end of this period 
she makes a report to the physician as to whether she 
thinks the child should remain in the special class, 
be sent to an institution, or returned to the regular 
school. The physician then gives the child a careful 
examination, usually confirming the opinion of the 
teacher, but his disposition of the case is final. 

The teachers of the special classes must all have 
experience in teaching feeble-minded before they can 
be emploj^ed in the special classes. It is not too much to 
say that Boston has some excellent teachers in her 
special classes. 

The classrooms of the special classes are each 
equipped with three manual training benches. The 
last hour of the school day is spent in manual work, 
the larger girls and boys working at the benches, while 
the smaller children have work in weaving, sewing, 
knife work, clay modelling and work along similar 
lines. Physical development is emphasized. Each 
teacher keeps a careful record of all the children. Bos- 
ton has no after care committee and thus there is no 
means of knowing what has become of the children 
who have left the school during the past ten years. 
The specialist in charge of the schools, Dr. Jelly, has 
the right idea as to what children should be placed in 
the special classes. Only the tractable feeble-minded 
children are admitted. Imbeciles, both moral and 
mental, are excluded. There are only eight special 



40 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

classes in Boston. This number should, of course, be 
increased several fold in order to take adequate care 
of the feeble-minded children among Boston's school 
population. The work also needs to be more carefully 
organized with a specially qualified supervisor in charge. 
Special or auxiliary classes have been organized 
in many cities throughout the country. The work is 
new and crude, but the need of these classes is being 
recognized and their adequate organization will slowly, 
perhaps, but surely follow. 



WHY THE AUXILIARY SCHOOL IS NEEDED 41 



Chapter Four 

WHY THE AUXILIARY SCHOOL IS NEEDED 

It is plain to be seen that children who are mentally 
defective cannot be kept in the regular classes of the 
public schools. Such a procedure is unjust to them, 
for they receive little benefit for the time so spent; it 
is unjust to the normal pupils, for they are deprived 
of the time which the teacher must devote in undue 
amount to fruitless attempts to teach the abnormal child. 
It is furthermore unjust to the regular class teacher 
to expect her to teach and control children so excep- 
tional in their mental development as to require special- 
ly trained teachers to effectively instruct them. 

The laissezfaire method of free education has been 
developing a large body of feeble-minded left-overs as 
the result of its attempt to treat all children alike. 
These children have grown up and married and in 
many cases their feeble-minded progeny are now the 
misfits in the educational scheme of mass methods. 
But society has slowly been waking up to the fact that 
it must protect itself from its own unwise endeavors 
to educate its members by the process of elimination. 
It has come face to face with the fact that it must, 
for its own protection, either educate all its members 
up to the measure of self-support or else furnish cus- 
todial care for those who are not self-supporting. The 
auxiliary school has arisen as a means of helping society 
to solve this problem. 

Undoubtedly, the time will come when the great 
majority of children who are now considered fit candi- 



42 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

dates for the special class will be assigned, at least after 
they have reached adolescent years, to custodial homes. 

It may be that the option will be given to parents 
of choosing between having their feeble-minded off- 
spring asexualized and allowed to remain at home or 
sent to a custodial home. 

Havelock Ellis 1 writes in the Eugenics Review: 
"Sterilization of men can be effectively achieved by 
simple vasectomy, or section of the vas deferens, and 
of women by the almost equally simple and harmless 
method of ligature of the Fallopian tubes (Kehrer's 
method as advocated by Kisch). It would appear 
that both these operations may be effected by skilled 
hands in a few minutes with a minimum of pain and 
inconvenience and they possess the immense advantage 
that the sexual glands are preserved, and no organs 
removed from the body. No doubt, it may be said, 
the necessity for seclusion in the absence of steriliza- 
tion would exert a gentle but firm pressure in emphasiz- 
ing the advantages of the operation. There need be 
no objection to that. 

"It is probable, also, that the method of steriliza- 
tion by X-rays may some day acquire practical im- 
portance. In this case there is no operation at all, 
though the effects do not last for more than a few years. 
This might be an advantage in some cases." 

Society is only beginning to arouse itself to the 
seriousness of this great problem. In fact, even the 
great majority of physicians have not the knowledge 
that would enable them to sense the menace of the 
feeble-minded to the community. 

Johnstone has stated that most of our states are now 
spending from a quarter to a third of their revenues 
to support penal and charitable institutions. The bur- 

1 The Sterilization of the Unfit. The Eugenics Review, October 
1909, pp. 204-5. 



WHY THE AUXILIARY SCHOOL IS NEEDED 43 

den is great, but it will be greater unless efforts are put 
forth to stop the sources from which these institutions 
are fed. The feeble-minded, we are just beginning to 
learn, furnish one of the chief of these sources. Paupers 
and criminals are sure to be prolifically bred, wherever 
the mentally defective are allowed to go untrained and 
unsupervised either by after care committees or, pre- 
ferably, in custodial homes. 

The special school is one of the most important 
preventive agencies. By its means, when it becomes 
generally established, a census can be made of the 
mental and moral defectives in the community. 
Through it these children can be classified and the 
worst cases can be sent immediately to custodial 
homes; the majority may be trained to intelligent 
habits of self-control and work and given the rudiments 
of a moral, aesthetic and intellectual education. 

Goddard found three per cent, of the children 
enrolled in a certain city school system which he inves- 
tigated were four years or more below the mental level 
corresponding to their age. " These pupils," says 
Goddard, "are feeble-minded. It is unfair to normal 
children to keep these mentally defective children in 
the regular classes. They should be segregated and 
given a special teacher who understands their case and 
is allowed to train them as their mental condition will 
permit. Of course, ultimately, they ought all to go to 
the institutions for the feeble-minded where they will 
be cared for and prevented from contaminating society ; 
but until this can be done, the special class for defectives 
is probably the wisest solution." 



44 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Five 

CHILDREN WHO MAY APPEAR AS CANDIDATES 

FOR MEMBERSHIP IN AUXILIARY 

SCHOOLS OR CLASSES 

Morons, Imbeciles and Idiots 

The membership of auxiliary classes and schools 
should be made up of children between the ages of six 
and sixteen who are so markedly abnormal or subnor- 
mal that they cannot profit by the instruction given 
to normal children. These children stand midway be- 
tween the normal "dullard" and the imbecile. This 
class is defined in the English Defective and Epileptic 
Children Act of 1899 as those children who "not being 
merely dull and backward, are defective, that is to say, 
by reason of mental (or physical) defect are incapable 
of receiving proper benefit from the instruction in the 
ordinary public elementary schools, but are not in- 
capable by reason of such defect of receiving benefit 
from instruction in such special classes and schools as 
are in this Act mentioned. " 

Such children represent those afflicted with the 
mildest or feeble-minded grade of amentia and would 
in general be given the name, recently coined, of 
morons, (derived from the Greek word meaning to be 
foolish). Such a person when mature is, according to 
the Act just mentioned, "capable of earning a living 
under favorable circumstances, but incapable from 
mental defect existing from birth or from an early age, 
(a) of competing on equal terms with his normal 



CANDIDATES FOR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS 45 

fellows, or (b) of managing himself and his affairs with 
ordinary prudence." Morons may be classified as low, 
middle, and high grade, representing in mental age a 
range from seven to twelve years. 

Imbeciles represent the next lower grade of mental 
defect and are defined by this Act as "those persons 
who, by reason of mental defect existing from birth 
or from an early age, are incapable of earning their own 
living, but are capable of guarding themselves against 
common physical dangers." 

The imbecile does not generally know the names 
of common objects and can give no account of their 
uses, neither can he recognize and name things repre- 
sented in pictures. His speech generally shows little 
intelligence. He often cannot be trusted to execute 
the simplest commands. An imbecile boy who was 
sweeping off a sidewalk against the wind complained 
because the wind blew the dirt back on the walk. 
He had not common sense enough to see that if he 
swept from the other side of the walk the wind would 
help take the dirt away. This lack of common sense 
is the most marked characteristic of the imbecile. 
Imbeciles may be of low, middle, or high grade of de- 
fective and represent a range of mentality correspond- 
ing to that of normal children from three to seven 
years of age. 

The idiot represents the lowest grade of amentia, 
or feeble-mindedness, and is so defective "that he is 
unable to guard himself against common physical 
dangers." Idiots are classified in three grades similar 
to morons and imbeciles. Their range of mentality 
does not exceed that of a two year old child. 

Dull and Backward Children 

The special or auxiliary schools and classes as 
organized and carried on in Germany, France and 



46 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

England are for mentally defective, abnormal or, as 
some writers have chosen to call them, subnormal 
children. The merely " dull and backward" children 
have no permanent place in such classes. Such chil- 
dren are normal. In many cases their intellectual gifts 
are extremely meager; in others intellectual develop- 
ment has been retarded through neglect or sickness. 

Tredgold 1 states that in some parts of Somerset- 
shire, England, "dull and backward" children consti- 
tuted five per cent, of the school population; in other 
parts as high as fifteen or twenty per cent. According 
to him, there are two classes of such children: (1) 
those who are dull only in their school studies and (2) 
those whose dullness extends to all the mental faculties. 
The former class are, as a rule, readily distinguished; 
but in the latter, diagnosis may be a matter of much 
difficulty. 

(1) Tredgold 2 cites as examples of dull and backward 
children of the first class two brothers, ten and twelve 
years of age, who were referred to him for examination 
by the teacher of a large country school. They were 
both pupils of Standard II and the examination showed 
they were not capable of doing the work. They had, 
however, "a very good knowledge of many details of 
country and farm life — of the cows, the corn, and the 
bird nesting"; and "they were by no means backward 
on the playground. In fact, I had little difficulty 
in demonstrating to the teacher that, although these 
boys could hardly do the simplest sum and could only 
read and write words of one syllable, yet they had plenty 
of common sense, and were by no means mentally 
deficient." 

According to Tredgold, such dullness runs in fam- 
ilies. Children of this type "cannot or will not" 

1 Mental Deficiency, p. 141. 

2 Mental Deficiency, p. 141. 



CANDIDATES FOR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS 47 

(Tredgold thinks it is a little of each) "make progress 
in the school studies, yet in play or in the streets they 
are keenly intelligent." 

It is a mistake to regard such children as even 
mildly defective as would some observers. Their 
family inheritance has no taint; they are physically 
well developed, and able to hold their own with the 
average child in everything but book-knowledge. 
They are, therefore, not defective but only retarded in 
the development of certain of their mental faculties, 
a condition due to the humdrum manner of life of 
generations of ancestors. 

Inability to advance in school work is not neces- 
sarily an indication of mental defect in Dr. Tredgold's 
opinion. He would thus be averse to accepting the 
dictum of Binet and Simon as promulgated in this 
country by Dr. Goddard that a child who is three years 
behind the normal age of the school grade in which 
he is enrolled may be regarded as mentally defective. 
In fact, as we have said elsewhere, Dr. Tredgold thinks 
that many of the children now enrolled in the English 
special schools belong to this class of "dull and back- 
ward" children. He cautions medical examiners, 
therefore, not to give too much weight in their diag- 
nosis of candidates for special classes to school records. 

(2) The children just considered are dull only in 
school work. There are other children who are dull 
in both work and play; their stupidity pervades every 
thing that they do. Yet even these children are, ac- 
cording to Tredgold, not suffering from mental defect. 
The defect is not pathological but physiological. These 
constitute the perplexing cases for the medical examin- 
ers to decide. 

Certain things will help in this decision. If the 
family history reveals pronounced morbid heredity, 
the case is probably one of real mental defect. A 



48 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

thorough examination of the child for stigmata of 
degeneracy and abnormal nerve signs is important. 
These are not generally found in the dull and backward. 
Such children are generally well nourished and of good 
physical development in contrast to the real defectives 
who in most cases are undersized, thin and poorly 
nourished. But most important of all is the mental 
examination. If in this examination the child reveals 
a good knowledge of the common things about him, 
and shows good common sense in his answers to ques- 
tions as to what he would do under different circum- 
stances that he would meet in the common walks of 
life, he has probably sufficient mental ability to follow 
some line of work with fair success and to look after 
his interests with ordinary foresight. If this is the 
case, he is not mentally defective. 

Children of Retarded Mental Development 

Tredgold calls attention to a group of children 
whose mental development is only temporarily retarded. 
Children in this condition are found oftener in towns 
and cities than in the country and their condition is 
so like that of real mental defect ' ' that for a time diag- 
nosis may be impossible." This temporary retarda- 
tion may be caused by improper or insufficient food, 
by lack of pure air or warmth, and by the general con- 
ditions of neglect which are so common in the densely 
populated industrial centers. 

As Tredgold says, "In real mental defect it is the 
seed that is blighted, while in the condition we are con- 
sidering it is the soil that is unfertile. The condition 
may not be inaptly compared to the late opening of the 
flower-buds in consequence of chill winds and absent 
sun. It may be described as a late spring, and the 
characteristic of these cases is that under more congen- 
ial surroundings, the brain rapidly recovers, and the 



CANDIDATES FOR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS 49 

child soon regains the normal standard. These chil- 
dren often experience a very sudden mental awakening 
to the surprise of everyone about them. Such children 
may be placed temporarily in a special school in order 
to be given the individual attention that they need, 
but their condition should never be confounded with 
that of the real mental defective." 

As has been said, these cases are sometimes ex- 
tremely difficult to distinguish from those of real mental 
defect, and it is only by placing them in the special 
school that a decision is sometimes at all possible. 
Tredgold is of the opinion "if the examination re- 
veals an entire absence of morbid inheritance, if there 
are no stigmata of degeneracy nor signs of irregular 
nerve action, and if the state of nutrition is poor and 
the environment is known to be bad, that then there 
are grounds for suspecting that the case is one, not of 
arrested, but of retarded development, and the diag- 
nosis must be provisional." 

Dullness caused by Disease 

Children may be dull through lack of vitality and 
nervous energy, due to disease. Such children are 
often mistaken by teachers for mental defectives. 
Defects of eye, of ear, or of the speech organs may be 
responsible for the dullness of the child; physical and 
mental energy may be sapped by tuberculosis. There 
is also the child who may be dull because of extreme 
nervous exhaustion. Such a child is listless and in- 
attentive, is loath to answer questions, fails on simple 
sums in arithmetic. His memory is poor, co-ordination 
imperfect, and he may be subject to tremor. "His 
head may be small and asymmetrical and his lower eye- 
lids are baggy and relaxed." 

An investigation will reveal the fact that the dull- 
Bess is comparatively recent and that the child previous- 



50 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

ly may have been of ordinary or of more than ordinary 
mental ability. In such cases the child is probably 
suffering from neurasthenia. Such a child often has 
violent headaches, usually due to over-pressure. Many 
such children become insane in later life. Such cases 
of dullness in general may recover their normal powers 
under proper care, otherwise the dullness may increase 
until the child loses its mentality. In older children 
this condition may be due to masturbation. 

Tredgold points out that while a mentally defective 
child may have fits, epilepsy may be the cause of 
temporary mental dullness. "In most of these cases 
there will be a history of fits, but they may be nocturnal 
only, and unknown to the parents." Such cases are 
characterized by loss of memory and alternating states 
of brightness and dullness which are not common in 
cases of real mental defect. Such cases may, however, 
develop into amentia, and later dementia may develop. 

The tendency now is to place epileptic children in 
schools by themselves. England has done most in 
this direction. 

The Moral Defective 

The moral defective may be defined as a person 
who displays "from an early age, and in spite of careful 
upbringing, strong vicious or criminal propensities 
on which punishment has little or no deterrent effect." 
Tredgold says that the mind of the average normal man 
is characterized by "four chief 'senses' or sentiments, — 
the moral or social, the logical or intellectual, the re- 
ligious, and the aesthetic." 

The moral sense is that complex of experiences 
which causes the possessor to appreciate the obligations 
which he owes to his fellows. It has its basis in human 
sympathy which has held society together from the 
beginning. 



CANDIDATES FOR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS 51 

The logical or intellectual sense enables us to see 
the connection between different mental concepts and 
to refer each new percept or idea to the proper related 
group of ideas, or mental concept. 

The religious sense inspires us with a feeling of a 
relationship to a power superior to man. 

The aesthetic sense enables us to see the harmonies 
of form, color, and sound, which we call beauty. 

As is well known a person may be deficient in one 
or more of these senses. If such a person is deficient 
in the intellectual sense he belongs to one of the three 
grades of amentia which we have just been discussing. 

This may take the form characterized by Storring 3 
as intelligent feeble-mindedness (intelligente Schwach- 
sinnige). Such a feeble-minded person, according to 
Meumann,may succeed tolerably well in passing through 
school and even the university but in practical life 
discovers his inability to judge among the conditions 
which surround him and to govern himself according 
to these conditions. Such a person may give the im- 
pression of being a highly gifted man, and often 
nothing of his weakness is noticed until, all of 
a sudden, his inability to pass judgment on some point 
shows itself. This most often reveals itself in a total 
indecision in the face of the enticing stimulus of a fleet- 
ing desire. This indecision is due to weakness of judg- 
ment. Reasons opposed to the case in hand are not 
drawn from the person's previous experiences. The 
physical basis for this weakness of judgment is not 
known. It is not necessary to characterize persons 
who lack the religious sense nor those who fail to appre- 
ciate the beauties of form, color, and sound. 

Those persons who have no moral sense, no con- 
ception of the obligations which are due their fellows 

3 Meumann's Vorlesungen — Experimentelle Padagogik Vol. I, pp. 
412-3. 



52 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

are called moral defectives. Tredgold 4 divides them 
into two classes: 

(1) The Latent Moral defective and (2) the True 
Moral defective. 

1. Latent moral defectives are those persons who 
although "they have no feelings of repugnance or 
shame at the thought of a criminal or immoral act, and 
although they cannot appreciate the ethics of the 
Decalogue," yet have intelligence enough to fear the 
consequences of breaking the civil or moral law, that 
will come in the way of civil punishment or social ostra- 
cism. They have intelligence enough to hold the moral 
defect in check. Such persons may be called potential 
criminals. 

Such persons are not mental defectives for their 
intellectual powers are intact. If they commit crime, 
it is with a full sense of its consequences. It is because 
persons of this class lack the moral sense that they often 
exhibit so little feeling after they have been caught in 
some criminal or immoral act. 

2. True moral defectives are those persons who 
have no moral sense and in addition are probably lack- 
ing in the intellectual sense so that the fear of punish- 
ment or social censure seems to exercise no restraining 
influence upon them. They commit, repeatedly, im- 
moral and criminal acts, and punishment seems to have 
no effect. From these persons the habitual and instinc- 
tive criminal class is largely recruited. The well-known 
Jesse Pomeroy is a moral defective. He had, as Dr. 
Fernald tells us, at the time of the commission of his 
notorious crimes, been accepted for admission to the 
Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded. He has 
a keen intellect in many respects. This manifestation 
of intellectual power has led many to affirm that there 



4 Mental Deficiency, p. 294. 



CANDIDATES FOR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS 53 

was no mental defect in such persons. The lack of 
control of such persons over their evil propensities 
even when they know that severe punishment has 
followed and is sure to follow, would indicate what 
Meumann 5 has characterized as a partial arrest of 
development of the judgment centers of the cerebrum. 

Moral defectives should ordinarily not be assigned 
to special classes for the mentally deficient. The spe- 
cial disciplinary class is the place for them so long as 
they remain in the public schools ; they should, however, 
be assigned as soon as possible to a custodial institution. 

Miss Margaret Bancroft is of the opinion that 
special education of the moral defective from the earliest 
age up to the age of twenty-four, always having in view 
the elimination of the particular defect, would finally 
result in the elimination of moral deficiency. She 
would have, for example, a boy or girl who is untruth- 
ful and unwilling to do assigned work, set to work per- 
forming exact measurements: measure just three 
inches; make a three-inch square; fit the ends correctly. 
Persist in having everything done exactly as it should 
be done even if the child has to be shown how "a 
thousand times." Perseverance in all this work will 
in the end be the "open sesame" to the abolishment 
of moral deficiency. 

After control had been gained over the child's 
habits through years of endeavor, Miss Bancroft 6 would 
complete the training by a course in the sciences, 
"especially in zoology and botany, and those branches 
which require microscopic investigations." 

Most educators who are experienced in the train- 
ing of the mentally defective do not take such an op- 
timistic view of the education of the moral defective. 



5 Vorlesungen Vol. I, p. 413. 

6 Light Through Broken Windows, p. 3, reprint from Journal 
of Psycho-Asthenics, December, 1904. 



54 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Dr. Fernald 7 says that while the acts of childhood due 
to this " slight degree of imbecility," (moral defect) 
may, under the guidance and protection of a good home, 
be of a harmless nature yet acts due to the "temptations 
of adolescent and adult life are quite another matter." 
He finds that moral defectives who have been put early 
in childhood or youth under permanent training and 
protection are far different in their conduct from those 
who have lived in towns and cities with only the re- 
straints of home. The former cases "trained from 
childhood and youth may be taught habits of industry 
and comparatively good behavior, and after twenty- 
five years of age a large proportion of them settle down 
to a condition of ostentatious pride in the virtues which 
they unwillingly practice." 

Undoubtedly the custodial home or farm colony is 
the only safe place for the moral defective. 

Epileptic Children 

Only a little has been done in this country to estab- 
lish schools or classes for epileptic children. There 
were two classes established in Baltimore some years 
ago but the attendance was so small that the School 
Board was led to doubt the expediency of maintaining 
them; it was finally decided not to limit their member- 
ship to epileptic children only, but to admit other 
mentally defective children, it being the opinion of 
some medical experts that the spasms of the epileptic 
children had no injurious effect on the non-epileptic 
children. In general, however, it would seem best 
to exclude from the regular and also the special classes 
children who are subject to frequent epileptic spasms. 
Such children should be taught in classes organized 
especially for them or sent to epileptic colonies. 

7 The Imbecile with Criminal Instincts, Reprint from American 
Journal of Insanity, April 1909, p. 747. 



CANDIDATES FOR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS 55 

We have tried to characterize in the foregoing 
pages the children who will be likely to appear as candi- 
dates for admission to the auxiliary or special school 
or class. 

Where these schools or classes have reached their 
best development they are exclusively for those pupils 
suffering from mental defect but of such a degree that 
there is hope that by proper instruction and training 
they may become capable of supporting or partially 
supporting themselves. These schools are for children 
suffering from the lightest degree of feeble-mindedness 
or amentia. They are for ' 'morons," not for either 
imbeciles or idiots, nor are they for normal pupils 
except in those cases where the degree of retarded 
development is for a time closely allied to mental defect. 
In such cases the special class with its individual teach- 
ing is probably next to an individual teacher at home, 
or a very good private institution, the best place for 
such retarded children. 

Children who are stutterers or stammerers but who 
are mentally normal should not be placed in the special 
class for defectives, They should be sent to a special 
school where they may receive instruction for a few 
hours a week in methods of correcting the defect. 

It may be pointed out, however, that in many small 
cities and towns it will be difficult, at first, to form class- 
es composed only of mentally defective pupils. In 
such cases, the endeavor should be to form special 
classes to which may be assigned both the mentally 
defective and the backward pupils. In this way the 
worth of such organization can be demonstrated and a 
stricter classification can follow later. 



56 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Six 

THE AUXILIARY SCHOOL BUILDING 
AND ITS EQUIPMENT 

As auxiliary schools and classes become better 
organized the tendency is, in general, to place them in 
buildings especially adapted to their needs. By vote 
of the London County Council, buildings and rooms 
designed for such schools and classes must be construc- 
ted and arranged to meet certain requirements in order 
to obtain the special money grant. The site must be 
approved by the department of education. School- 
rooms must have twenty square feet of floor space for 
each pupil. There must be adequate play-grounds, 
drill rooms, and lavatories. All rooms must be on the 
ground floor and must be equipped with individual 
desks. 

Fernald 1 states that the cost for construction of 
these buildings has averaged about one hundred dollars 
per pupil. The enrollment at these schools is from 60 
to 80 pupils. Several sketches of the floor plans of 
these buildings are given in the appendix. 

Schulze 2 maintains that since the school is for 
many of the unfortunate children who attend it, the 
only place of love, joy, friendliness and sunshine that 
they know, it should be a model in its material equip- 
ment, being an example of good light, good air, cleanli- 



1 See pamphlet, Mentally Defective Children in the Public 
Schools, p. 3. 

2 See article, Ausstattung des Schulhauses und des Schulzimmera. 
Handbuch der Heilpadagogik, p. 242. 



AUXILIARY SCHOOL BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT 57 

ness, and order, things that are wanting in most of the 
homes from which the children come. 

In addition to the regular schoolrooms the build- 
ing should have an assembly-room large enough to seat 
all pupils and a goodly number of friends and parents. 
In this room should be held the general exercises, de- 
votional exercises in the morning and the exercises on 
special days. It should have a projecting lantern and 
a piano, or better a player-piano, thus enabling the 
children to see good pictures and hear good music. 
The walls should be adorned with a few good pictures 
that appeal especially to children and from time to 
time the meaning of the pictures should be explained 
to the children. 

There should be a clinical room in which the school 
physician may keep his testing and measuring apparatus 
and make his examinations. This room should have 
a small dark-room for making examinations with the 
mirror, of the eyes and the throat; it should have a 
microscope for making bacteriological examinations, 
and instruments such as the spirometer, stethometer, 
cephalometer, and dynamometer, different types of 
which are described by R. Schulze in his Aus der Werk- 
statt der experimentellen Psychologie und Padagogik 
and in Whipple's Manual of Mental and Physical Tests. 

There should also be a sterilizing apparatus for 
disinfecting the instruments, and an emergency case 
containing the necessary materials for extending "first 
aid" in case of accidents among the pupils, and a dis- 
infection apparatus for disinfecting the schoolrooms in 
case of an outbreak of contagious disease. The lava- 
tory of the room should be equipped with both hot and 
cold water; a photographic apparatus is essential for 
taking a photograph of the pupils at their entrance to 
the school and at different times during the course of 
their membership in the school. 



58 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

There should be a rest room equipped with a 
couch or cot for the use of children who are taken sick 
suddenly, or in case of accidents, or spasms. 

Manual training rooms, equipped for work in 
wood and iron, should be given ample space. 

The girls should have rooms assigned for their 
work in sewing, cooking, and laundering. The writer 
has seen a very good equipment for this work in some 
of the special schools of Washington, D. C. It has 
been suggested that a suite of rooms, consisting of 
kitchen, dining-room, bed-room, and sitting-room be 
connected with each center in order that the children, 
especially the girls, may be given correct ideas of a 
simple, well-arranged, house equipment and learn how 
to care for it. The bed-room could serve for the rest 
room described above and the sitting-room for a recep- 
tion room for the school. 

There should, of course, in every building, be sep- 
arate rooms for the director of the school and the assist- 
ant teachers. 

Schulze suggests that the school building be pro- 
vided with an observation tower from which the chil- 
dren may be taught the topography of the surrounding 
country. He also thinks a gymnasium fitted out with 
the necessary apparatus for correcting physical de- 
fects is essential. 

Hygienic considerations demand that there should 
be baths supplied with both hot and cold water. The 
simple shower-bath is not thought sufficient by some 
writers, although its greater cleanliness would strongly 
recommend it. A covered walk or portico should be pro- 
vided where these children, who need pure air so much, 
can take their recreation in unpleasant weather. It is 
also probable that in the near future the outer walls of all 
schoolrooms will be so arranged that they can be opened 
and the schools made practically open-air schools. 



AUXILIARY SCHOOL BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT 59 

The school grounds should be large enough to 
furnish space for a school garden in connection with 
which there should be a place for the keeping of animal 
pets. 

The school grounds should have shade trees under 
which are sand piles, swings and teeters, and other 
simple playground apparatus of such a nature that the 
likelihood of accident is reduced to a minimum. 

The schoolrooms should be equipped with modern 
adjustable desks and seats. There should be closets 
and cabinets sufficient for the storage of books and 
apparatus. The rooms should be light and airy, 
supplied, of course, with properly warmed air from a 
modern system of heating and ventilation. Sand 
tables, aquaria, and telluria form important parts of 
the equipment of such a room, as do wall charts and 
maps and other illustrative apparatus. 



60 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Seven 

SCHOOL SESSIONS AND THE DAILY PROGRAM 

If the children attending the auxiliary school or 
class have to come considerable distances to attend 
the school, and especially if a meal at noon cannot be 
served them, one session each school day is probably 
better than two sessions. The auxiliary schools in 
many of the American cities have the one session day. 

Frenzel states that on hygienic grounds one session 
is better than two because it saves the time and energy 
of the pupils, since they must go to and come from 
school only once a day. Thus, in summer, with the one 
session plan the long walk home and back in the heat 
of the day is avoided, and also in winter the walk home 
after dark. Of course, these objections would not be so 
pertinent in case the children were transported by teams 
or street cars as is often the practice. It is also urged 
that the intermission at noon is not long enough to 
enable the pupils to recover from the fatigue of the 
morning and they are thus unfit to take up the work of 
the afternoon. 

"By the abolition of the afternoon session," 
writes Frenzel, 1 "the children will have more time 
for the preparation of school work, for recreation, and 
for occasional help from parents. " "In certain cases, " 
he continues, "it would seem best to recommend, on 
moral grounds, that the children be kept busy at the 
auxiliary school in the afternoon rather than left to 



1 See article, Studenplan. Handbuch der Heilpadagogik, p. 1672. 



SCHOOL SESSIONS AND THE DAILY PROGRAM 61 

themselves to spend the time in vice and idleness or be 
employed for profit by unscrupulous persons." After- 
noon sessions for this purpose have been successfully 
conducted at Breslau and Leipsic. Such a care-school 
is also carried on in connection with the state auxiliary 
school at Budapest. 

Place and Length of Instruction Periods 

The harder subjects should come early in the day, 
but difficult studies should not immediately follow each 
other. An easier study should intervene. 

It would seem that American schools are inclined 
to give more varied programs than are the German 
schools. They also have shorter lesson periods, aver- 
aging from fifteen to thirty minutes for the regular 
studies, such as reading and arithmetic, while the Ger- 
man school still clings to the idea that there must be 
longer periods in order to make the instruction efficient. 
There is, however, a tendency among German educa- 
tors to shorten these periods. 

Offner, in his " Mental Fatigue, 2 " cites Heller 
as authority for the statement that a half-hour ought 
to be regarded as long enough for a school exercise 
with feeble-minded children, and that the rest periods 
for non-compulsory activity (especially in the open air) 
or for taking a moderate amount of nourishment should 
be longer for feeble-minded children than for those 
who are normal. 

Daily Program, Auxiliary Class 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Time. 
9.00 Psalm and Lord's Prayer 
9.05 Morning Song 
9.10 Weather Observations 
9.15 Oral Spelling and Written Sentences 
9.30 Primer Class in Reading 
9.45 Second Class in Reading, First Readers 



2 English Translation by Whipple, pp. 81 and 86. 



62 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Time. 



Daily Program, Auxiliary Class — (Continued) 



10.00 Third Class in Reading, Second Readers 
10.15 Fourth Class in Reading, Third Readers 

f Swedish 
10.25 Light Calisthenics 



10.35 Number Classes 
11.00 Luncheon 
11.15 Recess 



j Wand Exercises 
I Horizontal Bar 
( Striking Bag 



Miscellaneous 
11.30 Work varied 
from day to 
day 



Nature Work 

Drawing 

Writing 

Music 

Cutting 

Paper Weaving 

Paper Folding 
• Word Matching 

Blackboard Drawing 

Dominoes 

Telling Time 

Measuring 

Compass Work 

Thursdays: Kindness to Animals; Band of 

Mercy Work 
12.00 Gymnastics, Hopping, Skipping, Trotting, Deep Breathing, 

Wands, Dumb-bells 
12.10 Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 
Basketry 
Weaving 
Sewing 
Crocheting 
Outlining 
Cane-seating 
Knitting 

Bench Work in Wood for older pupils 
Thursdays, Clay Modeling 
1.00 Dismissal 



SCHOOL SESSIONS AND THE DAILY PROGRAM 



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64 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Eight 

DISCIPLINE IN THE AUXILIARY SCHOOL 

The discipline in the auxiliary school should be 
kind but firm. Fodere, Iphofen Itard, Guggenmoos, 
Guggenbtihl, Kern and Saegert, would appear, since 
they do not mention corporal punishment in their 
writings, not to countenance it as a means of discipline 
in the training of mentally deficient children. They 
regard such children as weak of will and not responsi- 
ble for their misdeeds. Well-known German educators, 
as Stotzner and Glasche, wholly disapprove of the use 
of the rod. Kirmsse quotes the latter in his article 
on "Corporal Punishment among the Mentally 
Defective" in the Handbuch der Heilpadagogik to this 
effect. 

"If corporal punishment should be used with 
greatest caution in dealing with normal children, then 
it should be used with far greater care in dealing with 
weak and defective natures. Have these poor souls, 
who are in no way to blame for their afflictions, no 
claim on our forbearance and patience? It frequently 
happens that a child appears more depressed and 
dreamy than usual. Since the teacher must not allow 
himself to be overcome by ill humor or be led into 
severity, he must seek to awaken the child's dormant 
attention either by a proper change of work or a short 
exercise in gymnastics, or by other agreeable stimuli. 

"With passionate and defiant children, a good strong 
shaking by taking hold of the shoulder may not be out 
of place for it brings such children, more than would 



DISCIPLINE IN THE AUXILIARY SCHOOL 65 

corporal punishment, to a realizing sense of their weak- 
ness. " 

Probst, founder of the asylum for cretins at 
Ecksberg, would allow corporal punishment. He 
recommends as punishments for the wilfulness and 
wrong-doing of the mentally defective: 

1. An unfriendly look by the teacher; 

2. A slight; 

3. Deprivation of food; 

4. The rod. 

He would not inflict corporal punishment in the 
presence of the other children. They learn of it and 
fancy it more severe than it really was, and this thought 
keeps them from similar mistakes. Several directors 
of German institutions justify the use of corporal pun- 
ishment with healthy feeble-minded children. But 
Kirmsse 1 points out that the best authorities at 
the present time take the same stand in regard to the 
infliction of corporal punishment on the feeble-minded 
as they do in regard to its use on the insane; it is not 
justifiable in either case. 

In the auxiliary schools of Brussels, Belgium, 
corporal punishment is not used, the teachers excusing 
the transgressions of the children on the ground that 
the latter cannot be held responsible. The best Ameri- 
can institutions for the feeble-minded do not use 
corporal punishment; the system of incentives in use 
at the Training School, 2 Vineland, New Jersey, is 
worthy of imitation in all schools. 

Abnormal children are very sensitive to the affec- 
tion of the teacher; a calm, patient, gentle, affectionate 
teacher will have little trouble in disciplining her school. 

1 See article, Ziichtigung, korperliche bei Schwachsinnigen, 
Handbuch der Heilpadagogik, p. 1951. 

2 See article, An Experiment Station in Race Improvement. 
Frances Maule Bjorkman. The American Review of Reviews, Sept., 
1911, p. 328. 



66 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

The children soon come to love such a teacher and do 
right because they love and wish to please her, and such 
right doing tends to crystalize into habit. Rewards 
may be used with success in dealing with the mentally 
defective. 

In the auxiliary schools at Bordeaux, France, the 
children are rewarded for good behavior and work with 
a walk or with the privilege of being shown the pictures 
by the stereopticon which belongs to the school. 

The teacher should seek by every means to develop 
the affective natures of the children. They should not 
only be given clear ideas concerning different things, 
but should have the finer feelings aroused, that cluster 
around so many of these ideas. This is difficult work, 
but upon its accomplishment depends a greater part 
of the success of moral training in dealing with the 
mentally defective. 

In the French auxiliary schools, disciplinary cases 
are accepted as well as mentally retarded cases. 

Philippe and Boncour insist in their book, "L } 
Education des Anormaux" z that children who are 
unstable and intractable in their character, and not 
amenable to discipline, either in their conduct or their 
work, and who are generally characterized as lazy, 
are really suffering from some malady and need the 
care of a physician. 

They assert that in dealing with vicious children, 
every effort should be made to discover, if possible, 
among the bad tendencies, some good trait by culti- 
vating which the child may be led to gain control over 
his evil tendencies. 



» Paris, Alcan, 1910. 



PROGRAM OP WORK 67 



Chapter Nine 

PROGRAM OF WORK 

Seguin, the Pestalozzi of education for the mentally 
defective, laid the foundation of all future methods for 
educating the feeble-minded in his book entitled: 
Treatment moral, Hygiene, et Education des Idiots 
et des autres Enfants arrieres. 

He called his treatment "physiological educa- 
tion," an adaptation of the principles of physiology, 
through physiological means and instruments to the 
development of the dynamic, perceptive, reflective 
and spontaneous functions of youth," since "the physi- 
ological education of the senses must precede the psychi- 
cal education of the mind." 

Seguin shows that the order of development is as 
follows : : 

1. The development of functions of the imperfect 
organs, through exercise. 

2. The training of functions so as to develop 
the imperfect organs. 

The work of educators since Seguin's time has been 
to elaborate methods for which he laid the foundation. 
The work in sense and muscle training begun by him 
now forms a part of all successful methods of educating 
the mentally defective. 

Sense Training 

Mentally deficient children react weakly, in general, 
to sense stimuli. The sensory centers are often defec- 

1 Seguin, New Facts, p. 41, New York, 1870. 



68 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

tive in their development. These centers must be 
brought into activity through suitable training. Dr. 
C. W. Eliot 2 points out in his essay, Education for 
Efficiency, that the "training of sight, hearing, smell, 
taste and touch has been neglected in education to a 
most extraordinary degree." He then goes on to 
point out the great practical value of a special training 
of these senses. The normal child, however, develops 
all these senses to a greater or less degree without special 
training. This is not true of the subnormal child. 
He has to be taught what other children pick up of 
themselves. The ideas of the subnormal child are not 
like those of normal children, because he often fails 
to see, hear, feel, taste and smell as they do. Much 
can be accomplished in the way of improving these 
sense defects by the proper training exercises. Some 
of the best, suggested by American and European 
authorities, are given in the following pages. 

Visual Sense 

Cut up pictures or use " sliced animals." Have 
children put these together from models and from 
memory. 

Place on a table before the children, pieces of cloths, 
papers, carpeting or other material, each piece in dupli- 
cate. Mix together the pieces. Have children find 
the pieces that match. Have them group the pieces 
according to material. 

Arrange splints, squares, rectangles, cubes and 
prisms in order of lengths, according to similarity in 
surface forms, and in volume; if these forms are painted 
(as they are at Waverley) they may be arranged accord- 
ing to color. 



2 See Education for Efficiency, p. 6. 



PROGRAM OF WORK 69 

Have the pupils fit the outlines of different shapes 
cut from pasteboard or wood, with the cut out pieces. 
Such forms can be easily cut from thin pieces of wood 
with a scroll saw. The form-board can be used for 
this work. It is well to have the pieces rather large, 
especially for children just beginning school. Have 
pupils estimate and visualize lengths. The boxes 
of number sticks containing measures from one inch to 
12 inches in length are good for this purpose. These 
boxes have 12 one-inch measures, 6 two-inch, 4 three- 
inch, 3 four-inch 2 five-inch, 2 six-inch and one of each 
of the other measures up to and including the 12-inch. 

Arrange a group of objects in a certain way. 
Have pupils observe the arrangement. Then have 
pupils close their eyes or face the other way while 
the teacher changes the position of one or more 
objects in the group. Then ask some child to place 
object or objects in the former position. Make 
a sketch of some object on the blackboard. While 
the children close their eyes make some change in 
the sketch and then ask children to open their eyes 
and see if they can tell what the change was. 

The color sense may be developed by classifying 
colored splints, squares and other forms; by stringing 
colored beads; by arranging bottles of water colored 
differently with vegetable dyes. Indoor and outdoor 
croquet are good for a beginning in color work as well 
as for developing attention and muscular co-ordination. 

Rouma says that reading and spelling are based 
on the differentiation and fixation of visual impressions. 
It is essential that children, both normal and sub- 
normal, have their powers of attention trained by 
exercises similar to those just given before they begin 
the real work of learning to read. 



70 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Hearing 

The child, blindfolded, goes in the direction 
from which someone calls; recognizes his companions 
by the sounds of the voices or by the sound of the foot- 
steps; tells whether the speaker is far or near; tells 
by the sound, kind of material that is struck or that 
falls on the table or floor; such as, wood, glass, paste- 
board, paper, iron, tin or lead; tells pieces of money 
from the sound when dropped; reproduces a rhythm 
of sounds tapped by the teacher on the table or else- 
where; recognizes familiar tunes by the rhythm; 
recognizes sounds of different instruments, also recog- 
nizes the sounds characteristic of different familiar 
animals. 

Touch 

The sense known as touch, is really a complex 
of senses; pressure sense, muscle-sense, stereognostic 
sense, pain-sense and temperature-sense are all more 
or less closely associated under what is generally 
known as touch. Through the pressure sense the child 
gets information concerning the surface of objects, 
whether they are rough or smooth. Through the 
muscle-sense aided by the pressure sense the child 
gets his ideas of weight by lifting different objects. 

Ideas of form are gained through the stereog- 
nostic sense, by having objects come in contact with 
the body, the hands and the tongue being most con- 
cerned in this sense. Sensations of heat and of cold 
are conveyed through the hot spots and cold spots of 
the temperature sense. The pain-sense gives informa- 
tion concerning stimuli that are so strong "that in- 
jury to the tissues may result." 



PROGRAM OF WORK 71 

Pressure=Sense 

Develop ideas of rough and smooth by present- 
ing to blindfolded child, a rough and a polished surface; 
of hard and soft by presenting a smooth, not polished, 
surface and a small pad or cushion stuffed with cotton 
or down; of wet and dry by giving the child two pieces 
of cloth, one of which has been wet; ideas of (1) 
elastic, (2) sticky and (3) oily: (1) by pressing with 
fingers a piece of kneaded rubber, (2) by placing a 
drop of glue on the top of the fore-finger, then touch- 
ing the thumb or any surface with the finger and (3) 
by touching cardboard, the surface of which has 
been coated with olive oil; of different materials such 
as glass, wood, cloth, iron, marble and other materials 
by touching them. The child will in the end be able 
to recognize by the pressure sense, cotton, woolen, and 
silk cloth, hair cloth, velvet, satin, burlap, different 
kinds of paper, sheet-rubber and other materials. 

Dr. Farrington recommends that these materials 
should be in pieces of uniform size, about 4" x 4". 
They should be placed in a cloth bag, the open end of 
which can be drawn together by a string or tape. The 
child inserts his hand and names each material as he 
touches it, withdrawing the piece of material as he 
names it. 

Stereognosis 

By the stereognostic sense, the child is taught to 
recognize and name familiar objects by "feeling their 
shape." At Haddonfield five objects, small enough 
to be easily grasped by one hand, such as, a cube, 
cone, cylinder, pyramid, and sphere are placed in the 
recognition bag. The child inserts his hand and 
and names the object without withdrawing it. The 
objects must not be felt through the bag. Three 



72 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

different objects are placed in the bag and the child is 
requested to find, by feeling, the one that the teacher 
designates. A variety of common objects may be 
placed in the bag, the children vying with one another 
to see who can name the most by the stereognostic 
sense. 

More difficult than to merely name objects by 
this sense, is the recognizing and the description of 
the shape of objects, stating whether they are spherical, 
cubical, conical, pryamidal or cylindrical, the ideas 
designated by the words having been previously 
taught the children. Flat, irregular, thick, and thin 
may be taught by using pieces of wood of appropriate 
shapes. Differences in size are taught by the use of 
two similar forms ; such as a large and a small cube, or 
a large and a small pyramid. The child finds the large 
or the small form at the teacher's command. Then 
several objects differing in both size and shape are 
placed in the bag, and the child finds the one designated 
by the teacher. The children may then be blind- 
folded and asked to recognize and name different ob- 
jects in the room by feeling their outlines. 

Finally, the children may be taught to recognize 
the letters of the alphabet which have been cut in 
triangular grooves on blocks of wood 1" x 3" x 3". 
After the pupils have become skilled in recognizing the 
letters singly, they may be asked to spell familiar words 
by withdrawing the letters from the bag in proper 
order. The sandpaper letters of the Montessori sys- 
tem may be used to develop this sense. The child, 
blindfolded, may also fill in the spaces of the form- 
board. 

The Muscle=Sense 

This sense is developed by leading the child to 
recognize equalities and differences in the weight of 



PROGRAM OF WORK 73 

objects. At the Bancroft School, three cubes, four 
inches square, and three pyramids with bases 4 inches 
square and a height of 6 inches, are used for this pur- 
pose. These are painted white and two of the cubes 
and two of the pyramids are weighted so that one cube 
and one pyramid will be of equal weight and heavy, 
and one cube and one pyramid will be of equal and 
medium weight. The third cube is drilled and weighted 
so as to be of equal weight with the third pyramid. 
There are thus three pairs of weighted objects, each 
pair differing in weight from the other two pairs. 

At first, the light and the heavy pair are used. 
The four forms are placed before the child and he lifts 
them one after the other. After he has had an oppor- 
tunity to note the difference in weight, he should be 
taught to designate the forms as the heavy cube and 
the light cube, the heavy pyramid and the light pyra- 
mid. He should learn to place the heavy pair and the 
light pair together. The exercise may be varied by 
having the child place the heavy pyramid on the light 
cube and so on. The child should learn to do this 
quickly and with both right and left hand. These 
forms may be weighted by drilling the ends and fill- 
ing the holes with shot set in paraffine. 

Four small pails or four grape baskets alike in 
size and appearance may be weighted with stones 
or sand, so that one pair is heavy and of equal weight 
and the other light and of equal weight. The child 
brings the heavy or the light pail or basket or the 
heavy or the light pair in response to the teacher's 
directions. By varying the weights of the pails or 
baskets, the child gets clear ideas of the positive and 
comparative degrees and applies these ideas in estimating 
the weights of common objects in the schoolroom. The 
third degree of comparison is introduced by means 
of the three pairs of cubes and pyramids, and by vary- 



74 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

ing the weights of the pails and baskets; also by the use 
of stones and other material of three degrees of weight. 

Temperature=Sense 

The pupil is trained to discriminate differences in 
temperature by immersing his hands in water of 
different degrees of temperature from cold to hot. 

Taste and Smell 

All gustatory sensations, with the exception of 
bitter, sweet, sour, and salt, are the result of a combina- 
tion of the sensations of taste and smell. The child 
may be taught bitter, sweet, sour, and salt, using 
dilute tincture of nux vomica, rock candy syrup, 
vinegar, and a strong solution of salt, respectively, 
for the four sensations. A drop of each liquid should 
be placed on the tongue of the child who is blind- 
folded. It is suggested that the child be blindfolded 
by means of automobile goggles in which the glasses 
have been painted. The child should rinse his mouth 
with water after each test, in order that each sensa- 
tion may be clear and unconfused. 

The child is further taught to recognize by taste, 
coffee, tea, pepper, mint, chocolate, grape juice, vine- 
gar, rhubarb, cranberry, almond, vanilla, sassafras, 
citron, apple, banana, fig, olive, sweet pickle and sour 
pickle, different vegetables, syrups, and other mate- 
rials. 

Smell 

In order to call the olfactory sense into activity, 
dilute ammonia, camphor, oil of peppermint, and oil 
of cloves are recommended by Dr. Farrington. These 
may be followed by oil of wintergreen, oil of cinnamon, 
oil of bergamot, oil of lemon, oil of orange, kerosene, 



PROGRAM OF WORK 75 

wood alcohol, licorice, celery seed, caraway seed, 
gasoline, pine needles, sage, orris, bay leaves, camomile, 
and other odoriferous materials. 

All who have visited the Massachusetts School for 
the Feeble-Minded at Waverley, will agree with Miss 
Denby 3 that what she has called the sense-room is an 
especially valuable aid in teaching mentally deficient 
children. This room is furnished with large tables 
which are arranged along the sides of the room. There 
is a special table for each of the five senses; on the 
walls are cabinets in which are kept the necessary 
materials used for developing the several senses. 

Vaney in his Les Classes pour Enfants arrieres 
has given under the head of " mental orthopedy" 
three graded series of exercises for gaining mental 
and muscular control, which is only another name for 
gaining the power of attention. 

There are exercises in immobility by which the 
pupils are taught to stand in fixed positions as motion- 
less as statues. At first they are able to maintain these 
positions for only a few seconds, but after sufficient 
practice many children hold themselves motionless 
for a full minute at a time. 

Binet 4 writes that he has seen undisciplined, noisy 
children, who were the despair of their teachers, put 
forth in the " statue exercises" for the first time 
serious effort and put all their self-conceit into remain- 
ing motionless. "They were then capable of attention, 
of willing, and of controlling themselves. " He also says 
that these exercises become so agreeable that the 
children ask to be allowed to practice them. 



3 See her article on the Training and Management of Feeble-Minded 
Children, in Lapage's Feeble-Mindedness in Children of School Age, 
pages 271-274. 

* See Les Id6es Modernes sur les Enfants, p. 151. 



76 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Binet describes other exercises for developing 
motor ability: e. g., the carrying of plates full of 
water from one place to another without spilling any 
of the contents. He also tells of one class of mentally 
deficient children who, by practice, became able from 
memory, to write the names of nine different objects 
which were exposed before them for five seconds. 

There are also exercises with the dynamometer 
in which children vie with one another to make the 
best record for a series of days, the result of each 
pupil's performance being announced by the teacher 
and written in the pupil's record book. These compet- 
itive exercises tend to wake up the passive natures. 
The idea is to get the pupils to put forth intense effort 
for a short period. Emulation helps to accomplish 
this. Binet points out the necessity in this work of 
warm words of encouragement from the teacher and 
of making known to the pupils all their results 
by means of individual and class marks, which are 
posted each day on the walls of the classroom. 

Binet thought that in using these orthopedic 
exercises, he had found a new and better method of 
education for normal as well as abnormal children. 
He anticipated Dr. Montessori. 

Muscular Control 

Early exercises in muscular control may take the 
form of placing one block of wood on another, taking 
care to have the blocks large, brick size and half brick 
size are good ; also blocks cut two by two by about eight 
or ten inches. The blocks may be painted the different 
primary colors. 

At first the placing may be done in imitation of 
the teacher, then at a word of command, finally after 
the pupils have learned the colors, the blocks may be 
designated by their colors; as, "Place the yellow 



PROGRAM OF WORK 77 

block beside the green; balance the red block on 
the end of the white; place the blue block above or 
below the orange one." 

Then come walking between the rungs of a ladder 
laid flat on the floor, thus teaching the children to lift 
their feet in walking; balancing first by walking a 
broad beam, later the narrower plank; throwing 
and catching the ball (an excellent exercise in training 
the attention), throwing the large ball into the air 
and clapping the hands once before catching it as it 
descends. The writer has in mind one feeble-minded 
boy who, for a long time, was unable to accomplish 
this apparently easy task. He would clap his hands 
twice instead of once. He finally gained the power 
to clap them only once much to his delight. 

Jumping, using the standards, furnishes another 
valuable means of training the attention. The jumper 
has to estimate the height of the cord and then make 
the jump accordingly. This sort of work tends to 
develop the larger muscles and is a necessary prepara- 
tion for the later training of the finer muscles. 

The writer is acquainted with a feeble-minded 
boy of sixteen or seventeen who, because of lack of 
such training, cannot throw a ball more than a few 
feet, and cannot jump. The muscles of his body are 
flabby and undeveloped. He reached the fourth grade 
in the regular public schools, and was then sent away 
to a private school where he was preparing to take 
Latin. His greatest need was good, sensible instruc- 
tion about common things that would cause him to 
exercise his common sense; training in manual work 
and, most of all, systematic physical training. 

Physical Training 

Physical education should have first place in the 
auxiliary school. Mentally defective children are, as 



78 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

a rule, weak physically; they are below normal child- 
ren of their age in both height and weight. The teacher 
should, if possible, visit the homes of the children and 
try to persuade the parents to keep the children clean, 
to give them plenty of fresh air in their sleeping rooms, 
(oftentimes several children occupy one small bed at 
night), and to furnish them with plain, wholesome food. 
Miss Mary Denby 5 recommends the following as a 
good and sufficient dietary for feeble-minded children : 

Breakfast; bread and milk one day, porridge and 
milk the next, with bread and butter added if the child 
is still hungry. 

Dinner; potatoes over which a stew or broth has 
been poured; two other vegetables; plenty of bread; 
milk pudding; jam or suet roll or stewed fruit; soup; 
fish, and baked beans, instead of meat, may each be 
served once a week to secure change of diet. 

Tea: bread and butter, jam or syrup; lettuce in 
season; milk. Miss Denby states that if " children 
have a pint and a half of new milk a day in addition 
to solid food" they are sure not to be underfed. In 
winter she suggests the use, at times, of cocoa instead 
of milk. 

In the special schools of Birmingham, England, a 
wholesome and appetizing dinner is provided each day 
for both the mentally defective and the crippled chil- 
dren. The price charged each child is 2 d. (4 cents) a 
day. In the great majority of cases this money is 
collected without difficulty, the children either paying 
each day or at the end of the week, little slips on which 
a record of the payments is made being sent home to 
the parents. Where the parents are too poor to pay 
the whole charge, then a half penny (1 cent), or 
1 d. (2 cents), or 1-% d. (3 cents) is taken, the plan 

6 See Appendix I Lapage's Feeble-Mindedness in Children of 
School Age, p. 248. 



PROGRAM OF WORK 79 

being to pay as much as they can afford up to 2 d. 
(4 cents). Only in a very few cases does the 
dinner have to be furnished free for any length 
of time, and only a few parents fail to pay regularly 
the required charge. "It is interesting to note that 
a small surplus remains at the end of each school term 
which is used judiciously for the benefit of the children 
in the school." 

The expense for the salary of the cook, for uten- 
sils and for fuel is borne by the city. The main object 
in requiring the parents to pay for the meals served 
at the school is not to save the city the money that 
would have to be expended if the principle of paying 
for them was not in force, but to "impress the children 
and their parents with the importance of paying as 
they go and of thus preventing any tendency towards 
pauperizing those whose hard position in life would nat- 
urally make them more susceptible to such influences. " 

In many German auxiliary schools a substan- 
tial lunch is furnished the children. Light lunches 
are served the children in some of the American auxil- 
iary schools. If much is to be done in the way of the 
proper training of these children, it is essential that 
they be properly nourished. Much good has resulted 
from sending such children of the cities into the coun- 
try for a few weeks vacation. In Germany the boys 
of some of the auxiliary schools take long tramps of 
several days under the leadership of their teachers. 
Rational gymnastics, free play, and swimming are 
excellent for developing the muscles of the body. Gym- 
nastic dancing to music will some day occupy a large 
place in the physical work of these schools, as well 
as in that of all public schools. The rhythm of the 
music obliges the children to give attention and their 
movements to music are freer and fuller, than without 
music. Breathing exercises and exercises in articu- 



80 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

lation have been mentioned in another place in this 
study. As has been often pointed out by many 
writers, body-building must precede mind-building. 
The right kind of muscular development means mental 
devlopment. The muscles are the organs of the will 
and it is will-power that the mentally deficient child 
needs most of all to acquire. 

Manual Work 

"The manual work in the auxiliary school," 
says Vaney, "should serve the two-fold object of 
promoting the general education of the child and of 
preparing him for an apprenticeship in some trade." 
Some of the manual work in the lower grades may be 
given to the younger boys and girls in common; such 
as weaving, folding, cutting and bookbinding. For the 
older girls there may be mending, patching, hand and 
machine sewing. In one of the special schools that 
the writer knows very well, some Italian girls made 
during one winter some flannel petticoats. The 
morning after they were finished, the girls came to 
school wearing the petticoats as dress-skirts and they 
were, indeed, prettier than the old dresses the girls had 
been wearing. 

The boys may work at whittling, modelling, and 
bench work in wood and iron. In one of the special 
schools of Boston, the older girls work at the sloyd 
benches. In some of the London special schools 
each of the pupils is supplied with a back saw, hammer, 
nails, and a bench hook, in the upper cleat of which 
a groove is sawed. Thin pieces of wood in three widths 
are supplied to the pupils who work at their regular 
desks, the grooved bench hook fastened to the desk 
enables them to saw the wood in the desired lengths 
to make many different things. They are in this way 



PROGRAM OF WORK 81 

able to make small boxes, doll's furniture and a variety 
of other things. 

It can be readily seen from- what has already been 
said, that the children of the auxiliary school must be 
trained to habits of attention before they can take 
up with much success the more formal school work, 
such as reading, arithmetic and language. 

Failure to recognize the fact that "attention is 
a faculty of inhibition and that its mechanism is essen- 
tially motor and thus always acts through the muscles, 
has led many teachers to proceed too soon to the formal 
work of the regular school, neglecting the work in 
muscle training, forgetting, as Maudsley points out, 
"that he who is not capable of controlling his muscles 
is not capable of attention," thus demanding of the 
defective child the use of a power he has not yet de- 
veloped. 

As introductory to a few suggestions on the work 
in certain of the formal studies, it cannot be too strong- 
ly emphasized that it is the height of folly to try to 
teach these studies to mentally defective children 
before they have had the preliminary work in sense 
training, muscular control, and manual work. 

Reading 

Almost any of the newer "combination" methods 
of teaching reading can be used in the auxiliary schools 
with success. It would seem to the writer that the 
phonic work could be more interestingly taught, if 
the teacher would use the plan as suggested in the 
Pollard Reading Method of having the pupils learn the 
sounds corresponding to those heard in nature, e. g., 
the sound of v corresponds to the sound made by the 
fly. De Croly of Brussels uses the sentence method 
for the pupils of the auxiliary schools; the pupils 



82 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

learn first to recognize one hundred short sentences 
written on cards. This, of course, is not so very dif- 
ferent from the rhyme method. In many ways the 
rhyme or jingle method of acquiring the initial stock 
of words would seem superior. 

There are many delightful readers of a simple nature 
which the children of the auxiliary schools will enjoy 
reading. It hardly need be said that the reading mate- 
rial should appeal to the active side of the children's 
natures. The selections in dramatic readers will aid 
in bringing the meaning of the printed page home to 
many children. 

Arithmetic 

The method in presenting arithmetic is to be 
essentially concrete. The large numeral frame, splints, 
blocks, squares and other teaching appliances are to 
be made use of, and their use continued as long as the 
child needs them. The Germans have devised many 
number machines for making concrete presentations 
of the number ideas more effective. 

Course in Arithmetic, Leipsic Auxiliary School 

1st year: 

Work in addition and subtraction. Numbers from 1 to 10. 
2d year: 

Addition and subtraction; numbers from 1 to 20. 
3rd year: 

Addition and subtraction; numbers from 1 to 50. Beginning of 

multiplication. 
4th year: 

Work in the four fundamental processes; numbers from 1 to 100. 
5th year: 

Work in the four fundamental processes, numbers from 1 to 1000; 

oral work with numbers from 1 to 100. 
6th year: 

Four fundamental processes, numbers from 1 to 1000 and above. 

Use of the simple fractions, common and decimal. 

The Leipsic course may be taken as a type of 
many such courses in the auxiliary schools of Germany. 



PROGRAM OF WORK 83 

In Meiningen, the sixth class is required to do a little 
simple work in reasoning and in the computing of 
interest. 

Dr. Fernald has pointed out that most mentally 
defective children have difficulty with long division. 
Many, however, are able to learn the four mechanical 
rules, but when it comes to applying these rules to a 
real problem, they can do almost nothing. 

Mr. George Benstead 6 writes; " Calculation often 
proves a stumbling block to feeble-minded children. 
This subject has to be presented in its most attractive 
form, but there are many ingenious contrivances now 
to be had, and the old "shop lesson," which is really a 
more glorified form of the old childish nursery game, is 
of great help, as the articles, — such as groceries, card- 
board money, weights and scales, etc., are always in 
evidence, as a matter of some importance. Interest 
is sustained, the intellectual faculties are aroused, and 
the tension and strain of an ordinary dry-boned arith- 
metical lesson is not felt; whereas, further inducement 
to the child to do his best is the thought that at the con- 
clusion of the business part there is the more pleasant 
function of participating in the eating of those portions 
of the products of the sale, such as sugar, etc., which, 
as a rule, is not a displeasing operation for a child." 

Language 

The aim in language should be to lead the child to 
express himself intelligently and as far as possible 
correctly, and to enable him to make simple written 
records, and to write a simple letter, both business and 
friendly. Correct language forms may be fixed through 
language games. Such language books as those of 
De Garmo furnish many valuable exercises for leading 

6 See Report of Special School for Boys, Otekaike Oamaru. Report 
of Committee of Education, New Zealand, 1909, p. 12. 



84 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

children to write correct sentences and simple para- 
graphs. These books do not demand too much of the 
children in the way of vocabulary. 

Practical Life 

The French auxiliary schools have in their pro- 
gram of studies a course called " Practical Life" which 
includes information about ordinary every day things 
that everyone needs to know in order to solve intelli- 
gently the problems one may meet in the world. 

In this course the children are taught how to 
behave at table, to distinguish the different parts of 
the furniture, the cooking utensils, liquids and solids 
used as food; they learn to tie their shoes, to cover 
their books, to light the fire and sift the ashes, to write 
a letter and stamp and address it, to buy a railroad 
ticket and other things along similar lines. 

Some Titles of the Lessons in the Course of Practical 

Life 

The Dwelling: The rent, the terms, the re- 
moval, the receipt for the rent, the apartments of the 
dwelling; cleanliness, washing, furniture polish, the 
door mat. 

Furnishings: The name and use of the furniture 
most generally used; how to arrange the dishes on the 
side-board, the linen in the closet; the window-cur- 
tains; the up-keep of the furniture; study of furniture 
catalogues. 

Heating: An order for coal; building a fire, 
study of the coal price-list. 

Lighting: The different ways of lighting; gas, 
precautions; estimate of the expense. 



PROGRAM OF WORK 85 

Food: The market wagon and the market; 
the small traders of the four seasons; the shop-keepers; 
price of current commodities. 

Purchasing: Price by the piece, by the pair, 
by the dozen, by the liter, by the kilogram, by the cask, 
by the bushel, and so on. 

Making change. 

Study of a grocery catalogue. 

Vegetables; cleaning, washing, cooking. 

Beverages: Price, transportation, storing in 
cellar, placing in bottles. 

Fruits: Hygienic precautions. 

Kitchen Utensils. 

Clothing: The care of the linen; washing, 
bleaching; care of the shoes; prices from catalogues. 

Employment: Employment bureau; notices; 
work by the hour, day, week, month, by the piece. 

Means of Travel: Different ways: omnibus, 
tramways, railways; tickets; different routes; time 
tables; circulars. 

Object Lessons 

Object lessons which may largely take the form 
of nature study, should constitute an important part 
of the work in the auxiliary school. It should consti- 
tute the foundation on which may be built the work 
in language, drawing and arithmetic. Where possible, 
and that means almost everywhere, the teacher should 
take walks with the pupils in the parks or into the woods 
and fields. These walks should have some definite end 
in view ; the children should go to find or see some defin- 
ite thing or things: birds, squirrels, flowers, trees, and 
so on. These things should form the basis for future 
language and drawing lessons. Such lessons are much 
better than those drawn from books. They lead up 
to books, for the children will, after such lessons, be 



86 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

glad to hear what the books say about the things 
they know about. If the teacher is a nature-lover, 
she can co-operate with the children in getting the 
material for an aquarium or a tellurium, and thus na- 
ture may be brought, in little, to the schoolroom. 

There are, furthermore, many excellent collec- 
tions of materials for object lessons in the form of 
nature cabinets, which may be used to give the chil- 
dren ideas about the different things they see about 
them every day. These cabinets contain many large 
cards, each one devoted to some topic; such as, the 
horse, cow, sheep, wheat, corn, silver, gold, iron. 
These cards furnish a wealth of material on which 
to base much of the work of the auxiliary class. 

Drawing 

The pupils of the lower classes of the auxiliary 
school should have work in free hand drawing, making 
sketches in black and white and in color of the objects 
they have seen in their nature walks, or of the common 
scenes in life. They may color outline drawings that 
have been prepared or furnished by the teachers. 
The older children, especially the boys, may take work 
in elementary mechanical drawing, making sketches 
of some of the things they are to make in the manual 
work. Such boys as are to enter some special trades 
may be given such instruction in drawing as will help 
them in their trades. This should consist largely of 
the making and reading of simple drawings made actual 
size or to scale. There will be little need of a knowl- 
edge of perspective drawing in such work as the men- 
tally deficient boys will do. 

Work in modelling is also valuable for develop- 
ing ideas of form. 



PROGRAM OF WORK 87 

Work in Geography and History 

The elementary ideas in geography should be 
taught by leading the children to observe the natural 
forms of the locality and by moulding these forms on 
the sand table. They should also gain elementary ideas 
of the world from simple geographical readers, of 
which there are several excellent ones on the market. 

The main facts in the history of the nation should 
be gained from stories told by the teacher, or from the 
elementary historical readers. The children may gain 
many ideas by dramatizing some of the events in 
history. 



SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Ten 
MENTAL TESTS 

In order to determine the degree of departure from 
normal mentality in backward and abnormal children, 
sets of tests have been devised by different workers in 
this special field of psychology. The best of these 
tests are arranged systematically in a graded series, so 
that each group of tests represents an increase in diffi- 
culty over the group designed for the next lower stage 
of mentality. The most usable of these sets of graded 
tests and the best adapted for use in testing children 
assigned to special schools, are doubtless those of Sante 
de Sanctis, of Rome, and those of Binet and Simon of 
Paris. The work of these investigators is highly com- 
mended by Meumann. 1 

de Sanctis's Tests 

These tests are designed for testing children from 
7 to 16 years of age, and they are so graded as to 
determine the degree of defect in mentally sub-normal 
children. 

1st Test. The child is shown six glass balls, or, 
according to Goddard, five wooden balls, 50 mm. in 
diameter, of different colors, with the command by 
the experimenter: "Give me a ball." The time the 
child takes in responding is recorded by a stop watch. 
The balls are then concealed behind a screen or under 
a cloth. 



Neumann, Vorlesungen, Vol. I., p. 388. 



MENTAL TESTS 89 

2nd Test. The six balls are again shown. The 
experimenter asks: " Which ball did you give me?" 
The reaction time is again measured. 

3rd Test. Kindergarten cubes of the same 
size, together with 3 balls and 2 pyramids (Goddard 
says 3 pyramids and 2 parallelopipeds) are placed on 
a table. The child is shown a cube and directed to find 
one like it. The reaction time is taken. 

4th Test. From a card on which are printed 
figures of triangles, rectangles and squares, the child 
is asked to point out all the figures that are similar in 
form to the cube that was just shown him in the pre- 
vious test. Record number of errors and the time. 

5th Test. Twelve cubes of different sizes are 
placed at different distances on a table. The child is 
asked this question: "How many things are there, 
which is the largest, and which is the farthest away from 
you?" Take the time. Notice errors and omissions. 
This question requires a three-fold response. 

6th Test. The cubes are concealed by the screen 
and these questions are asked: "Are the largest cubes 
also the heaviest? Are the cubes that are farthest 
away the smallest?" 

The ability to pass only tests Nos. 1 and 2 is in- 
dicative of the highest grade of mental defect, i. e., 
Idiocy. The ability to pass Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, only, indi- 
cates the next lower grade of mental defect, i. e., 
Imbecility. 

The mastery of the fifth test, but failure to master 
the sixth is indicative of the lowest grade of mental de- 
fect, i. e., Feeble-mindedness. 

Ability to pass all six tests, indicates the possession 
of normal mentality. 

de Sanctis believes that by his tests the following 
abilities of the child can be ascertained. 

1. Capacity of adaptation to different situations. 



90 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

2. Memory for color. 

3. Ability to distinguish colors and forms, and 
the recognition of the same, as well as the perception 
of identity in a plane and a solid figure. 

4. The persistence of attention. 

5. The ability to count objects and to judge their 
quantity, size, and distance. 

6. The ability to form a judgment as to the 
quality of objects when they cannot be directly per- 
ceived by the senses and must be judged from abstract 
notions; by this means, in addition to imagination 
and judgment, the power to generalize and to form 
abstract ideas is tested. 

7. Quickness of perception, of reflection, and of 
action. 

The first five tests were given by Dr. Montessori 
to 45 mentally defective children, and the results were 
in close agreement with the general clinical and pedagog- 
ical characterization of the children. 

The sixth test, according to the view of Dr. Mon- 
tessori, is better when broken up into several simpler 
tests. 

Professor Toscano gave the tests in a school for 
normal pupils and found them well adapted for ascer- 
taining the pupils who were mentally weak. He 
thought the fifth test was too easy in comparison with 
the fourth. 

de Sanctis gave the tests to 40 children in his 
school for the feeble-minded, and found, as in the cases 
previously cited, that the results agreed well with the 
clinical and pedagogical characteristics of the children. 

For adults and the older feeble-minded persons, he 
found the sixth test too easy. He suggests the following 
modifications : Instead of allowing a minute long pause 
between the several tests, only 40 seconds is allowed 
between tests No. 1 and No 2. The subject points out 



MENTAL TESTS 91 

the squares in the fourth test with a pencil or stick. 
The sixth test is thus changed: a. "Do large things 
weigh more or less than small things?" (The word 
"cubes" is avoided as well as the word "objects.") 

b. How does it happen that sometimes small 
things weigh more than large? This question is not 
asked unless the subject answers the first question cor- 
rectly. 

c. Do things that are far away look larger or 
smaller than things that are near? 

d. Do they merely look smaller or are they really 
smaller. 

Goddard thinks that in these tests the effect of 
training is not entirely eliminated. He thinks that 
a feeble-minded child who has been well trained can 
pass Test No. 6. 

It would seem that these tests might be used to 
make a tentative census of the feeble-minded members 
of a group of school children or other persons. This 
tentative judgment could be confirmed in doubtful 
cases by more extended tests. 

Binet and Simon Tests 

In their 1905 Series of Tests, Binet and Simon 
advance the following classification of mental defec- 
tives as determined by their tests. 

A. Idiots 2 (inarticulate), mental development 
never exceeding that of normal child of two years. 

1. Vegetative Idiot with no Relational 
Activity. 

2. Idiot with some Power of Visual Co- 
ordination. Eyes follow a lighted match when it 
is moved before the subject's face. 

2 See E. B. Huey's chapter on Classification and Terminology in 
his "Backward and Feeble-minded Children." Baltimore, 1912. 



92 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

3. Idiot with Power of Prehension. Subject 
has power to grasp small cube when it is placed in 
contact with the palm or back of his hand. (Tactual 
stimulus.) Also has power to reach for an object 
when held at some distance away. (Visual stimulus.) 

4. Idiot who Recognizes Food. Subject se- 
lects a piece of candy or cookie and rejects a piece of 
wood when urged to eat. 

5. Idiot having Imitative Power. Subject 
clasps hands and makes different gestures in imita- 
tion of the movement of a second person. 

B. Imbeciles. (Corresponding to children be- 
tween 2 and 7 years of age.) 

B. 1. Imbeciles with Ability to Recognize 
Objects by Name and to Name Objects. 

a. Real Objects 

1. Points out eyes, hair, nose, mouth, tongue; 
sometimes harder things "such as heart, eyebrow, 
elbow." 

2. From a number of things on a table brings one 
designated. 

3. Ask for something that is not in the group to 
test suggestibility of subject. 

b. Objects in Picture 

1. Points out certain objects in simple colored 
pictures as their names are called. 

2. Ask subject to point out the "jabberwock" 
or some other fictitious object, testing how he re- 
sponds to suggestion. 

c. Naming Objects 

Names object as they are pointed out in simple 
colored pictures in response to such questions as, 



MENTAL TESTS 93 

"What is this?" or, "What is the boy doing?" Test a, 
b, and c require about the same degree of mentality. 
B. 2. Imbeciles with Ability to Make Com- 
parisons. 

a. 1. Test with two lines of different length, 30 
and 40 mm., the longer line now on right, now on left 
until sure that subject can or cannot make the com- 
parisons correctly. 

2. Test with lines of same length; ask subject 
which is longer or shorter, and see if he falls into the 
trap. 

b. Test subject's memory by asking him to 
repeat a series of three figures; as, 4, 7, 6 or 5, 6, 8, 
which are pronounced distinctly to him by the 
person testing. 

c. Test subject's ability to compare weights, 
two pill boxes, weighing 3 and 12 g., respectively. 
Correct comparison is made by lifting the two weights 
simultaneously, one in each hand. 

B. 3. Imbeciles with Ability to Repeat 
Sentences. 

Binet's test for this degree of mentality consists 
of eight sentences of about 15 words each, (Test 15, 
1905 Series) similar to the following: 

We get up in the morning, play all day, and go to 
bed at night. 

The tester should observe whether the omissions 
and changes indicate a slip of the memory or a failure 
to comprehend the meaning of the sentence. The latter 
is indicative of defective mentality. 

C. Feeble-minded. Morons, with a mental de- 
velopment above an imbecile but not exceeding that 
of a normal child of twelve years. 

C. 1. Morons with Capacity to State Dif- 
ferences. 



94 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Ask the subject to state the difference between 
a fly and a butterfly; paper and cloth; wood and glass. 
State the questions so as to make them as intelligible 
as possible. Be sure the subject knows what the 
objects are in each case. 

C. 2. Morons with Ability to Make Serial 
Arrangement. 

Have five little boxes weighing 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 g., 
respectively. Ask subject to arrange them in order 
of their weight. Allow three trials; two must be cor- 
rect to pass the test. 

Binet=Simon Graded Tests 

The Binet scale of graded tests for measuring 
mentality, as worked out by Professor Binet and Dr. 
Simon, is fully described in an article written by them 
in the 1908 volume of VAnnee Psychologie. The 
scale establishes norms of mentality for each year from 
three to thirteen inclusive. 

Credit for Answering the Test 

The child is credited first with the mental age of 
which he has answered all of the questions but one; 
for every five questions that he can answer beyond that 
point, no matter where they are found, the child is 
credited with an additional year. "This," as Goddard 
says, "gives a flexibility to the system which overcomes 
any peculiarities of training that the child may be 
subject to, and so he measures up to his proper grade 
regardless of any accident in his training." 

Dr. H. H. Goddard, Director of the Psychological 
Laboratory of the Training School at Vineland, New 
Jersey, was the first psychologist in America to bring 
the Binet-Simon 1908 scale to the attention of the 
public. He translated and published these tests in the 



MENTAL TESTS 95 

magazine, Training School, in January 1910. Since 
then the tests have been used in a number of places. 
Goddard has tested with this scale some four hundred 
mentally deficient and some two thousand normal chil- 
dren, publishing the results of the two investigations 
in the Pedagogical Seminary for September 1910 and 
June, 1911, respectively. Their most extensive use 
on public school children has been made in the public 
schools of Philadelphia. 

The Binet Scale, Dr. Goddard thinks, is the most 
accurate method we have of determining intellectual 
ability in children. He thinks that by the use of this 
scale any superintendent of schools may examine the 
pupils under his charge and ''determine with consider- 
able accuracy whether each and every child is in the 
grade that his mental ability actually warrants. Of 
course, it is evident that a child may have the mental 
ability of eight years, but if he has never been to school 
he must be in the first grade for a time at least. But 
on the other hand, he should not be in the third grade 
two years later when he is ten years old mentally. 
As the years go by, he should get through with the 
mechanics of the learning process in the elements, and 
be up to what his mentality warrants." 



96 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Pictures Used in Making Binet Tests. 










Figure 1. Binet Test Age VI. No. 3. 
No. 5 in Revised Seale. 



Figure 2. Binet Test Age VII. No. 1. 
No. 3 in Revised Scale. 



MENTAL TESTS 97 

Tests of Mental Development as used in the 
Philadelphia Schools 

(After Binet and Simon = = = Goddard. See Vol. VI, No. II, 
"The Training School," Vineland, N. J.) 

(a) The examiner should use, so far as possible, the exact language 

of the test. 

(b) Unless otherwise indicated, all parts of a test must be answered 

correctly to pass. 

(c) For test materials see appendix. 

{d) The following conventions should be observed in estimating 
mental development as indicated by the tests: 

(1 ) Credit the subject with the mental development of the highest 
age for which he has succeeded in all the tests but one. 

{2) Advance him one year for every five higher tests passed; 
e. g., John is nine years old. He fails in two of the nine year 
tests. He should thus be classed as intellectually eight years 
old. But he has done three of the nine year tests and three 
of the ten year tests, making six in all. He is, therefore, 
advanced a grade and recorded as normal, 
(e) The child should be placed at ease and encouraged to answer 
freely, but no specific help other than as indicated in the tests 
should be given. 

3 YEARS 3 

1. "Where is your nose?" "Eyes?" "Mouth?" 

May be answered by a gesture 

2. "Say after me, 'It rains. I am hungry.'" 

There must not be a single error 

3. "Say after me, '7-2; 6-3; 8-5.'" 

Pronounce the figures distinctly, one-half second apart, 
and without emphasis on any one figure. The test is 
passed if two numerals are repeated correctly once out 
of three trials 

4. "What do you see in this picture?" 

Use any interesting picture of objects and actions within 
the range of childish experience. Suitable pictures may 
be found in primary reading books. Kuhlmann uses 
pictures found in Jingleman Jack, by James O'Dea, New 
York and Chicago, 1901. The child should enumerate 
four things in the picture shown. He is not required to 
describe any actions. 

5. "What is your name? " 

Every child of three knows his own name. He does not 
always know his family name. 

4 YEARS 

6. "Are you a boy or a girl?" 

7. "What is this?" 

Show successively knife, key, penny 



3 See Record Blank in Appendix, p. 168. 



98 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

8. "Say after me, ' 7-4-8. ' " 

9. "Which line is longer?" 

Two parallel lines about 3 centimeters apart; one 5 centi- 
meters, the other 6 centimeters long. 

5 YEARS 

10. "Which is heavier?" 

Use pill-boxes of uniform size weighted with sand or shot ; 
can be made up by any druggist. To identify the 
weights without disclosing them to the child, the initial 
of the weight should be placed upon each box, e. g., 
S on 6 gram box, F on 15 gram. box. Compare 3 and 

12 grams; 6 and 15 grams 

11 .§ "Copy figure of a square of 3 or 4 centimeters," with 

pen and ink. 
12. "Make a figure like this card from these pieces." 
Place a visiting card on the table; 
nearer the child place the two pieces, thus: — 



13. "HOW MANY PENNIES ARE HERE?" 

Place four pennies in a row. Have the child count them 
with his finger 

6 YEARS 

14. "Hold UP YOUR RIGHT HAND. Show ME YOUR LEFT EAR. " 

15. "Say after me, 'We get up in the morning; after break- 

fast WE WORK ; AT NIGHT WE GO TO BED. ' " 

16. "Which is prettier?" 

See Fig. 1. Page 96. Show heads in pairs 

17. "What is a house?" "A fork?" "A table?" "A 

CHAIR?" "A HORSE?" 

Kinds of response: 1, "A fork is a fork," or by pointing 
to an object. 2. In terms of use, — "A fork is to eat 
with." 3. Better than by use. This includes answers 
that describe the thing or even begin with " it is a thing, " 
"it is an animal," etc. 

Three definitions by use pass 

18. "DO YOU SEE THIS KEY? PUT IT ON THAT CHAIR. THEN 

SHUT THE DOOR. AFTER THAT BRING ME THE BOX THAT 
IS ON THE CHAIR. REMEMBER, FIRST THE KEY ON THE 
CHAIR, THEN CLOSE THE DOOR, THEN BRING ME THE BOX." 

Child must execute the entire commission. Give no 
further help than here indicated 



MENTAL TESTS 99 

19. "HOW OLD ARE YOU?" 

Answer in years passes 

20. "IS THIS MORNING, OR IS IT AFTERNOON?" 

If the time is afternoon, put the question, "Is this after- 
noon or morning? " 

7 YEARS 

21. "What is missing in this picture?" 

See Fig. 2. Page 96. Show pictures one at a time. 
Three correct answers pass ■ ■ ■ • ■ ■ 

22. "How many fingers on your right hand?" "How 

MANY ON YOUR LEFT HAND?" "HOW MANY ON BOTH 
HANDS?" . 

Answers must be given without hesitation and exactly 
right without counting ■ ■ 

23. "Copy these words: 'The little Paul.'" 

Use pen and ink. Passed if readable by one who is igno- 
rant of the copy 

24. "Copy this figure." 

A diamond about the size of square used for age five. Use 
pen and ink. Passed if recognizable as intended for a 
diamond-shaped figure 

25. "Say after me, '4-7-3-9-5'" 

26. " What do you see in this picture? " 

See test 4. Same picture as used in test 4. Child should 
now describe actions or things instead of simply enumer- 
ating ■ 

27. "Count these pennies. 

Place thirteen pennies in a row and have child count them 
with the finger. Finger must touch the piece as the 
child names the number. No piece must be counted 
twice and none omitted 

28. "What is this?" 

Show successively penny, nickel, dime, and quarter 

8 YEARS 

29 - Three Houses on Fire. New York, Sept. 
5. A big fire in Hastings, last night de- 
stroyed three large houses in the centre of 
the village. 
"Seventeen families are without shelter. The 

loss exceeds thirty thousand dollars. 
"While rescuing a child in his cradle, a bar- 
ber's boy has had his hands very seriously 
burned." 

Have child read the selection. Wait a few seconds and 
then say, "Tell me what you have read." Write down 



100 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

exactly his words, then count the number of memories 
that he has expressed. The possible memories are as 
follows: Three — houses — on fire — New York — Septem- 
ber 5th — big fire — destroyed — last night — etc. 
Two memories pass 

30. "HOW MUCH AKE THESE STAMPS WORTH?" Or "How MUCH 

MONEY TO BUY THESE STAMPS?" "COUNT. " 

Arrange 3 one-cent stamps and 3 two-cent stamps in a row . 
Should be done within ten seconds without any error 

31. "What is this color?" 

Show successively the four colors, blue, red, green, yellow. 
Should be done in six seconds. 

32. "Count backwards from twenty to one." 

Should be done within twenty seconds, and only one mis- 
take or omission or transposition allowed 

33. "Write 'the pretty little girls.'" 

Passed if readable by one who is ignorant of the copy .... 

34. "What is the difference between a butterfly and a 
fly?" "Wood and glass?" "Paper and cloth?" 

The question may be differently put so as to make it as 
intelligible as possible, e. g., "Why are they not alike?" 
etc. Two at least of the answers must be correct. 
Allow two minutes 

9 YEARS 

35. (a) "What day is to-day?" (6) "What month?" (c) 

"What day of the month?" (d) "What year?" 
For question (c) answer within three days of correct date 
passes 

36. "Name in order the days of the week." 

Allow ten seconds 

37. Play store, using real money. Child is storekeeper. Buy 

from him stamps that cost 9 cents. Give child a quar- 
ter. Child must actually give 16 cents change as well as 
say it. See Revision 

38. "What is a house?" "A fork?" "A table?" "A 

CHAIR?" "A HORSE?" 

See test 17. Accept only definition better than by use .... 

39. "Tell me what you have read." 

See test 29. Six memories pass 

40. Use pill-boxes weighing 6, 8, 12, 15 and 18 grams. (See 

test 10.) Place the five boxes on the table in front of child 
and explain that they do not all weigh alike, and that he is 
to lift them one at a time, and put them in order from the 
lightest to the heaviest. 

Record exact order in which child has placed boxes. 

Three trials allowed; two of these must be absolutely correct. 
Allow three minutes 

10 YEARS 

41. "Name the months of the year." 

To be done in fifteen seconds. Allow one omission or 
transposition 



MENTAL TESTS 101 



42. " What is this? " 

Use cent, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, dollar, two 
dollars, five dollars, ten dollars. 

Pieces should be on table in a row, but not in regular order 
of value. Have child point with finger and name as he 
points 

43. "Make a sentence using the words, 'Philadelphia, 

money, river.'" 
There are three forms of answer: (1) three separate sen- 
tences; (2) two ideas united by a conjunction; (3) a single 
idea involving the three words. Only the last two pass. 
Allow one minute 

44. "What ought a person to do: 

(a) "When he has missed the train?" 

(b) "When he has been struck by a companion who 

DID NOT DO IT PURPOSELY?" 

(c) "When he has broken something that does not 

BELONG TO HIM?" 

(d) "When he is detained so that he will be late 
for school?" 

(e) "Before taking part in an important affair?" 
(/) "When asked his opinion of some one whom he 

knows only a little?" 
(g) "Why does a person excuse more easily a wrong 

ACT COMMITTED IN ANGER THAN A WRONG ACT COMMITTED 
WITHOUT ANGER?" 

(h) "Why should a person judge another more by 

HIS ACTS THAN BY HIS WORDS?" 

Allow twenty seconds to each question. Five correct 
answers pass 

11 YEARS 

45. "I AM GOING TO GIVE YOU SOME SENTENCES IN WHICH THERE 

IS NONSENSE. LISTEN CAREFULLY AND SEE IF YOU CAN 
TELL ME WHERE THE NONSENSE IS." 

These are the sentences: 

1. An unfortunate cyclist has had his head broken and 
is dead from the fall : they have taken him to the hospital 
and they do not think that he will recover. 

2. I have three brothers, Paul, Ernest and myself. 

3. The police found yesterday the body of a young girl 
cut into eighteen pieces. They believe that she killed 
herself. 

4. Yesterday there was an accident on the railroad. But 
it was not serious: the number of deaths is only 48. 

5. Some one said, "If in a moment of despair I should 
commit suicide, I should not choose Friday, because 
Friday is an unlucky day and it would bring me ill luck." 

Read the sentences slowly. Allow two minutes for the 
entire test. Three good answers pass 

46. "Use in one sentence the words 'Philadelphia, money, 

RIVER.'" 

See test 43. Only last form of answer passes. 



102 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

47. "Say as many words as you can in three minutes, — 

as table, run, board, carriage, big. some children 
have named two hundred words. " 
Record words as named. Sixty words pass. Duplica- 
tions not to be counted 

48. "What is charity?" "Justice?" "Goodness?" Two 

good definitions pass. They must contain the essential 
idea, even though poorly expressed 

49. "Make a sentence out of these words." 

Hour — for — we — early — at — park — an — 

started, the. 

To — asked — paper — my — have — teacher — 

correct — the — I. 
A — defends — dog — good — his — bravely — 

master. 

Place the printed words before the child. Have him give 
the sentence orally. Allow one minute for each sentence 
Two given correctly pass 

12 YEARS 4 

50. "Say after me, '2-9-4-6-3-7-5.' '1-6-9-5-8-4-7.' '9-2- 

8-5-1-6-4.'" 
Tell the child there will be seven figures. Allow three 
trials. One correct answer passes. 

51. "Give as many words as you can think of that will 

rhyme with day, spring, mill." 

Explain and illustrate what is meant by a rhyme. Allow 
one minute. Three rhymes for any one of the words 
passes 

52. "Say after me, 'Ernest is praised very often for his 

good conduct. i bought a beautiful doll for my 
good little sister.' 'children, it is necessary 
for us to work very hard for a living. you must 
go to your school every morning.'" 
One of these combinations of sentences to be repeated 
without error 

53. "I SHALL READ YOU A STORY CONTAINING A QUESTION. 

Listen carefully and give me the answer when I 

FINISH." 

1. "A person who was walking in the forest at Fontaine- 
bleau suddenly stopped much frightened and hastened 
to the nearest police and reported that he had seen 

hanging from the limb of a tree a " (after 

a pause) "what?" 

(2) "My neighbor has been having strange visitors. He 
has received one after the other a physician, a lawyer 
and a clergyman. What has happened at the house of 
my neighbor?" 

Both questions to be answered correctly 

The answer to No. 1 is "a dead man." 

4 The test for Thirteen Years is omitted as not being suited 
to its purpose. 



MENTAL TESTS 103 

Revision of the Binet Scale 

In the April 1911 number of the Bulletin de la 
Societe Pour VEtude Psychologique de VEnfant, 
Professor Binet has established a revision of his 1908 
scale of tests. In this revision he has made three sig- 
nificant changes: 

1. He has five tests for each age, with the excep- 
tion of the five year level where he has retained the 
original number four. 

2. He has transposed some questions from one 
year to another. Goddard does not think these changes 
are always for the better. 

3. He has omitted some of the questions that 
were dependent on school training largely; such as the 
reading and writing tests. 

In regard to the revised scale, Goddard says: 
"The results of our experience with the tests on 
four hundred feeble-minded and two thousand normal 
children, convince us that Binet's original scale was 
quite as correct as his new one; but that some improve- 
ment can be made in certain other questions. 
The new scale will simply be more convenient because 
it will (see The Training School, June 1911, p. 58), 
obviate straggling; that is, where a child, for example, 
stops at seven years, but gets enough credits to make 
him eight, some of the credits coming from nine and 
some from ten. The tendency under the new scale 
will be to answer the eight year questions and stop 
there, doing none in nine or ten." 



104 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



No Change 



VI 3 



Revised Binet Scale, Amended by Goddard 5 



III. Mentality of Three Years. 6 

1. Touches nose, eyes, mouth, as directed 

2. Repeats: It rains. I am hungry 

3. Repeats 7, 2 

4. Sees in picture different objects in response to 
question: What do you see here? 

5. Gives the family name 

IV. Mentality of Four Years. 

1. Knows sex, in answer to question: Are you 
a girl or a boy? 

2. Recognizes a knife, key and penny 

3. Repeats three figures as 7, 4, 8 

4. Compares lines differing by a centimeter 

V. Mentality of Five Years. 

Results in G's 
Tests 

Compares weights of 3 and 12 grams; S. F. 

6 grams and 14 grams 32- 2 

Copies figure of square 23-1 1 

Repeats: Sentences of ten syllables: 
His name is John. He is a happy 

boy new 

Counts four pennies 30- 4 

Rearranges a rectangle that has been 

cut diagonally into two triangles, 

called game of Patience 20-12 

VI. Mentality of Six Years. 

Knows whether it is morning or after- 
noon . 30-12 

Defines, in terms of use, the words 

fork, table, chair, horse, mamma . . 35- 6 

Executes three commands given 

simultaneously 25- 7 

Shows right hand, left ear 35- 8 

Chooses prettier from several pairs 

of figures 31- 6 

Mentality of Seven Years. 

Counts 13 pennies 94- 5 

Describes certain pictures 83-25 

Notes omissions of eyes, nose, mouth 

or arms from certain pictures 87- 9 

4. Draws diamond from copy so it can 
be recognized 95- 8 

5. Names colors, red, blue, green, yellow 97- 5 



Binet 

New 


Binet 
Old 




1 


1 


1. 


2 
3 


2 
new 


2. 
3. 


4 
5 


4 
3 


4. 
5. 



1 


7 


1. 


2 


4 


2. 


VII 3 


5 


3. 


VII 1 

5 


1 
3 


4. 
5. 

VII. 


VI 4 

2 

VIII 3 


7 
6 
1 


1. 
2. 
3. 



VIII 3 



5 Used by permission of Dr. H. H. Goddard. 

6 See Record Blank in Appendix, p. 168. 







VIII. 


1 


6 


1. 


2 
omitted 
VII 4 


4 
1X2 

2 


2. 
3. 

4. 


5 


VII 5 


5. 
IX. 


1 
2 


3 

4 


1. 

2. 


VIII 4 

4 

XI 


1 

XI 

6 


3. 
4. 
5. 



MENTAL TESTS 105 

Mentality of Eight Years. 

Compares two objects from memory, 
butterfly and fly; paper and cloth; 

wood and glass 87- 2 

Counts backwards 20 to 1 90-1 

Repeats days of week 85- 4 

Counts stamps, three ones and three 

twos 79-14 

Repeats five numerals, 7, 9, 1, 4, 6. . 36- 7 

Mentality of Nine Years. 

Makes change, 20c. 4c. 33-23 

Defines in terms superior to state- 
ments of use, fork, table, chair, 

horse, mamma 45-27 

Knows date 48- 7 

Repeats names of months in order . . 48- 6 
Arranged in order of weight, boxes 
of same size and appearance weigh- 
ing 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 grams in 
three minutes 44-1 1 

X. Mentality of Ten Years. 

IX 3 2 1. Knows money; lc, 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c, 

$1, $2, $5, $10 104-5 

2 new 2. Copies a design new 

— new 3. Repeats six figures: 8, 5, 4, 7, 2, 6. . . new 

4 4 4. Answers questions of judgment: 

What ought one to do when one has 
missed a train or been unintention- 
ally struck by a playmate or has 
broken an object belonging to 
another? 98-8 

5 3 5. Uses three given words in not more 

than two sentences 92-17 

XI. Mentality of Eleven Years. 

X 3 1 1. Sees absurdity in three out of five 

statements or anecdotes 48- 4 

Uses 3 words in a single sentence . . . 39-14 
Gives 60 words in three minutes .... 35- 3 
Gives three words that rhyme with 

day, hill, ring 45- 5 

XII 5 5 5. Arranges correctly shuffled words of 

eight-word sentences, two out of 

three, one minute being allowed . . . 35- 9 

XII. Mentality of Twelve Years. 

XV 11 1. Repeats seven numerals in order 

when heard once 37- 7 

XII 4 X 4 2. Defines charity, justice and goodness 5- 

3 revised 3. Repeats sentence of 26 syllables 15-21 

1 new 4. Resists suggestion new 

XV 5 4 5. Problems of various facts 40- 3 



XII 2 


2 


2 


XII 3 


3 


3 


XV 2 


2 


4 



106 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

XV. Mentality of Fifteen Years. 
1 1. Interprets picture 

2. Changes hands of clock 

3. Interprets codes 

4. Gives opposites of certain words 

Mentality of Adult Years 

1 XIII 1 1. Cuts triangle from paper that is'folded 

in four; ask subject to draw picture 
of way triangular piece will look 
when unfolded 

2 XIII 2 2. Reversed Triangle. Images and draws 

new form produced by joining trans- 
posed pieces of a diagonally divided 
visiting card 

3 XIII 3 3. Give differences between abstract 

terms; pleasure and honor; evolu- 
tion and revolution; event and ad- 
vent; poverty and misery; pride 
and pretension 

4 new 4. Gives difference between president of 

a republic and a king 

5 new 5. Gives sense of a passage read to him 

N. B. All questions under any age must be answered to pass that 
age instead of all but one as on the old scale. 

Explanation of the Revised Binet Scale 

The numbers in the second column refer to the 
place the questions had in the 1908 scale; numbers in 
the first line to place of the question in the revised 
scale; e. g., VIII. 3. (Repeats days of week) was IX. 
2, in the 1908 scale. Binet omits it in the revised scale. 

The numbers in the first column refer to the place 
of the questions in Binet's Revision; those in the third 
column to Goddard's Revision. The figures at the 
right of the questions; e. g., 32-2, refer to results of 
Goddard's test with the scale on 2,000 school chil- 
dren ; 32 represents the number of children who passed 
the test question; 2 the number who failed. 

Goddard has modified the form of three questions : 

IX. 1. The old form used by Goddard giving the 
correct change for a quarter to a person making a 9c. 
purchase was found too hard; paying for a 4c. purchase 



MENTAL TESTS 107 

with two ten-cent pieces, the child giving the correct 
change, is thought to be easier. 

IX. 2. It is now proposed to accept as a defini- 
tion better than use, such definitions as: the chair has 
four legs, the table is made of wood. 

XII. 3. A sentence of twenty- three syllables 
is substituted for the old sentence of twenty-six syl- 
lables. 

Goddard recommends the following sentences: I 
saw in the street a pretty little dog. He had curly 
brown hair, short legs, and a long tail. 

He adds the following questions: 

X. 2. The following designs are exposed ten 
seconds, and the child then draws them from memory, 
testing visual memory, analytical power, and attention. 



H-EUB 



XII. 4. Prepare a booklet of six pages. On 
the first page draw in ink two horizontal lines; the one 
to the left two inches long, the one to the right two and 
a half inches. On second page, left line is two and a 
half; right, three inches. Third page, left line three and 
right one, three and a half inches. On the three re- 
maining pages all lines are three and a half inches long. 
The lines on each page are in the same straight line 
and separated by a half inch. 

The idea of the test is this : The child having said 
the right hand line is the longer for three times, will he 
continue to say the same when the lines are alike or will 
he "resist the suggestion"? The form of the question 
for the first two pages should be: " Which is the 
longer? " But for the others merely say : " and then. " 



108 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



A 





G 


B 


E 


H 


C 


F 


I 



J 

• 


• 


V 


K 

• 


N. 


& 


L' 


0* 


*R 





XV. The same pictures are to be used as in 
III. 4 and VII. 2. The subject passes the test if he 
interprets the feeling of the picture by expressing 
"some word of sympathy, fear, sorrow, joy or other 
feeling." 

XV. 2. The subject arranges the clock hands 
for the hour (1) 6:20 and (2) for 2:56. "The child 
must not see a watch or clock. It is a test of imaging 
power." 

XV. 2. Use of a code of characters. 



4" 



After showing subject how to use cipher, e. g., 

"war" would be written \&/ 1 [•"" remove key 

and have him write: "Caught a spy" in this code. 
One error is allowed, every wrong or incomplete sym- 
bol being marked an error. 

XV. 4. The subject is asked to write the oppo- 
site of the following words: 1, good; 2, outside; 3, 
quick; 4, tall; 5, big; 6, loud; 7, white; 8, light; 9, 
happy; 10, false; 11, like; 12, rich; 13, sick; 14, glad; 
15, thin; 16, empty; 17, war; 18, many; 19, above; 
20, friend. 

Besides the obvious answers the following are ac- 
cepted as right or half right: 

2, in or indoors (half); lazy or slowly (half); 
4, little or low (half); 5, short (half); 6, soft or low 
(right); whisper (half); 9, sorry or sorrow (half); 
10, right or truth (half); 11, dislike, unlike or hate 
(right) ; 13, healthy (right) ; 14, mad (right) ; 15, broad 
(half); 16, filled (right); 18, none (right); 19, under 
(right). 



MENTAL TESTS 109 

The equivalent of 17 correct answers must be 
given. 

Goddard sugggests having the words printed on 
a sheet of paper in a vertical column with space at 
the side in which the opposite words may be written. 

Tests for Adults 7 

Adult 4. The subject is told that there are three 
differences between a President of a Republic and a 
King, and he is asked to name them. 

"The answer should contain the three ideas; 
Royalty is (1) hereditary, (2) lasts for life, and (3) the 
monarch has extended powers. The President is 
(1) elected, (2) for a definite term and (3) his powers are 
usually less extensive than those of a king." 

Adult 5. Reading selection to subject of which 
he is to tell the substance of what is read. 

Binet explains that the word adult may mean 
anyone over 15 years. 

The following paragraph should be read slowly, dis- 
tinctly and with expression : ' ' One hears very different 
judgments on the value of life. Some say it is good, 
others say it is bad. It would be more correct to say 
that it is mediocre; because on the one hand it 
brings us less happiness than we want, while on the 
other hand the misfortunes it brings are less than others 
wish for us. It is the mediocrity of life that makes 
it endurable; or, still more, that keeps it from being 
positively unjust." 

The subject is given credit for passing the test 
if he gives the central thought, e. g., "Life is neither 
good nor bad, but mediocre, because it is inferior to 
what we wish and not as bad as others wish for us." 



'See also Wallin's "A Practical Guide for the Administration of 
the Binet Simon Scale for Measuring Intelligence." Psychological 
Clinic, December 15, 1911. 



110 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Goddard thinks that Adult Tests 1 and 2, test 
special traits rather than universal. In a mixed group 
of educators and scientists, six out of twenty passed 
No. 1 ; in a group of 18 psychologists, twelve succeeded. 

"The great need now," says Dr. Goddard, "is 
to get suitable tests up to age twenty." 

Wallin criticises the Binet scale at length in his 
article "Human Efficiency" in the Pedagogical Seminary 
for March 1911. He maintains that the scale measures 
acquired, as well as native, mental capacity. To his 
way of thinking, "pure native capacity after the first 
few months of life, is a pure figment of the imagination. " 

Wallin finds that there is a tendency among sub- 
jects in places where the scale has been in use sometime 
to coach one another. He recommends that this diffi- 
culty be met by devising substitute or variant forms of 
equal difficulty for some of the tests. 

Wallin also points out in this article that there is 
great need of a motor scale of development or a com- 
bined intellectual-motor scale. A child who is not 
normal intellectually, may be normal on the motor 
side and thus may be fitted for certain kinds of indus- 
trial work for which he should be trained in school. 
It is obvious that such a scale is much needed. 

Dr. Lewis M. Terman, 8 who, with the assistance 
of H. G. Childs, has tested some four hundred children 
in the vicinity of Stanford University, California, sug- 
gests certain modifications of the scale and also a ' ' new 
method for calculating 'test age,' which he believes 
is a decided improvement over that used by Binet. 
The tests of a year-group are given a combined value 
of 1 and the unit value of each question in a group is 
determined by dividing 1 by the number of tests in 
that group, thus making it possible to retain an equal 

8 See Article in Psychological' Clinic, Dec. 15, 1911. See also 
Articles in Journal of Educational Psychology, 1911 and 1912. 



MENTAL TESTS 111 

number of tests in the different groups without giving 
undue weight to any one test in the estimation of test 
age." 

Dr. Terman well says, "In order to make the tests 
of the greatest practical use, it will be necessary to 
apply along with such measuring scales the newly 
developed tests of physiological age. Unless this is 
done, children are certain to be grossly misjudged as 
to native ability, a mistake which in individual cases 
may be fraught with the most serious consequences. 
In justice to the child, the normality of whose intelli- 
gence has been questioned, tests for physiological age 
should always be applied before institutional treat- 
ment is recommended, and perhaps occasionally after 
commitment." 

Dr. Terman also thinks that "it is especially 
desirable that age norms be secured for tests" of the 
general nature of some of those used by Healy 9 and 
Fernald in the Chicago Juvenile Court. 

Dr. Leonard P. Ayres 10 criticises the Binet-Simon 
tests as follows: 

"These tests are designed to measure native ability, 
not scholastic attainment. They aim to provide the 
investigator with an instrument which will enable him 
to form a trustworthy estimate of the child's capacity 
for adapting himself to his social environment, and so 
are designed with special reference to evaluating his 
judgment, good sense, initiative, and adaptability. 
"Their value as a measure of this kind of intellec- 
tual capacity depends on whether or not they really test 
the qualities they aim to test and with what degree of 
accuracy. It is the opinion of the writer that they may 

9 See Tests for Practical Mental Classification Psychological Review 
Publications. The Psychological Monographs, Vol. XIII, No. 2, March, 
1911, pp. 1-53. 

10 See Psychological Clinic, November 15, 1911. 



112 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

be greatly improved in both respects. His criticisms 
fall under five general heads: — 

"1. The tests predominantly reflect the child's 
ability to use words fluently, and only in a small measure 
his ability to do acts. 

"2. Five of them depend on the child's recent 
environmental experience. 

"3. Seven depend on his ability to read and write. 

"4. Too great weight is given to tests of ability 
to repeat words and numbers. 

"5. Too great weight is given to 'puzzle tests.' 

"6. Unreasonable emphasis is given to tests of 
ability to define abstract terms. 

1 'Two-thirds of the Binet-Simon tests are tests of 
the child's ability to use words, and only one-third 
tests of his ability to do acts. Among the reasons 
why certain of the tests fall short of providing satis- 
factory criteria for the judging of native ability are the 
following: 

"1. They overlook the fundamental difference 
between the multiple and complex stimuli which con- 
tribute to the motivating impulse in coping with real 
problems and the few and simple ones entering as 
factors in answering questions or obeying commands. 

"2. The importance of the emotions and habit in 
influencing action is disregarded. 

"3. Real equality is attributed to verbal equality. 

"4. Ability to answer many of the questions de- 
pends on the child's daily environmental experiences 
which differ radically among different children. 

"5. Ability to meet the requirements of several 
of the tests depends directly on the excellence of the 
child's schooling. 

"6. Several tests depend on the mere ability to 
repeat words and numbers. 

"7. Counting backwards and solving puzzles con- 
stitute several tests. 



MENTAL TESTS 113 

"8. Several tests turn on the ability to express in 
words comprehension of difficult, abstract terms." 

As has been stated elsewhere, Kuhlmann shows 
that many of Ayres' points of criticism are not well 
taken. 

Miss Katherine L. Johnson, of England, examined 
4 girls six years old; 41, seven years old; 22, eight 
years old; 30, nine years old; 38, ten years old; 24, 
twelve years old; 23, thirteen years old; 4, fourteen 
years old and 3 girls over fifteen years old by the Binet 
revised scale. The children seemed to find the tests 
even harder than did American children of similar 
age. 

Miss Johnson seems to regret the fact that Binet 
has omitted tests for the eleven, thirteen and fourteen 
year levels. 

She also is of the opinion that unless additional 
credit is given for passing tests of higher level, one year 
for five questions and two years for ten extra questions, 
the judgment would be too severe. 

Miss Johnson found that often a girl may fail in the 
tests of a level lower than that of her age, and yet pass 
those of a higher level; thus two girls of nine could not 
pass the nine year tests, yet accomplished those of the 
ten year level, and three other girls failed on these nine 
year tests who were able to pass tests of higher levels. 
Two girls failed on the ten year level but passed those 
of the twelve year level. One girl of twelve years 
failed on the level of her age, but passed the fifteen 
year tests. This would seem to indicate that in some 
cases it would be unfair to gauge a child's mentality 
absolutely by these tests, especially by those of one 
level, as Binet would seem to approve in his revised 
scale. 11 



n See article on Binet's Method for the Measurement of Intelli- 
gence. Some Results. The Journal of Experimental Pedagogy, Mar. 
1911, pp. 24-31. 



114 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Eleven 
VANEY AND BINET'S TESTS OF INSTRUCTION 

The rdle of the regular teacher, in the determina- 
tion of backward pupils, is to point out the suspects, 
that is, the children who are retarded in their studies. 
By comparing the age of each child with the average 
age of the class that he is in, it is easy to see whether 
the child is retarded or not. 

A normal child enters the first grade at six 
years of age, and if he proceeds at the normal rate, 
the second grade at seven years and so on through the 
grades entering the eighth grade at thirteen and com- 
pleting the elementary school at about the age of 
fourteen years. If a child of eight years enters the 
first grade, he is said to be retarded by two years; if, 
on the other hand, a child of eight, either because of 
superior ability, or perhaps of undue coaching by par- 
ents, is able to enter the fifth grade, he is said to be 
two years in advance of his normal age. 

Binet and Vaney have worked out certain graded 
tests in the three important school subjects, read- 
ing, arithmetic, and spelling, which are intended to 
enable the examiners to determine with accuracy just 
the degree of instruction, or school knowledge, of each 
child from six to twelve years of age. Says Vaney: 1 
"By examinations made on hundreds of children of 
each age from six to thirteen years, of different social 
conditions, one knows that the primary school pupil 

J See Les Classes pour Enfants arriertis, Bulletin de la Soci6te 
libre pour 1'Etude psychologique de l'Enfant. Feb. 1911. p. 72. 



VANEY AND BINET's TESTS OF INSTRUCTION 



115 



of eight to ten years, for example, ought to be able to 
solve certain problems in arithmetic and not to 
exceed a certain number of errors in spelling in a 
dictation. Knowledge in reading has also been rated 
in degrees. Subjected in this way to these three tests 
of instruction, the pupil shows where he stands." 

Vaney points out that there are children who, for 
one reason or another, do not enter school until late, 
or who do not attend regularly enough after they have 
entered to make normal progress. These facts should 
be taken into consideration in determining the amount 
of a child's school retardation. Thus, a child of eight 
years in the first grade, who has been absent from 
school since he entered at the age of six, some two hun- 
dred days, would be credited with a school retardation 
of only one year. 

If the attendance deviates only a little from the 
average (8 absences in a hundred days), it is disre- 
garded by Vaney in calculating effective schooling. 

The tests of instruction to which children suspected 
of mental deficiency are subjected, are as follows: 

Vaney's Scale of Instruction 





"o 




Spelling 


r 3.S- 


Age of 


<d a 




Typical 


^■Bg 


Children 




Arithmetic, Typical Problems. 


Sentences 


6° o 
fc"3d8 


C. 2 prepara- 


Sub- 


Subtraction of a number of one 


3 The young 


25 


tory (1) 


syl- 


figure from a number of two 


shepherd- 


and 


6 to 7 yrs. 


labic 


figures, less than 20. 


esses of the 


more 






I. Take 6 apples from 19 


villages re- 


than 






apples. 


turn in the 


25 






II. Paul had 17 cents. He 


dark night 


mis- 






spent five of them. How 


with their 


takes 






many had he left? 


lambs 








III. Emile had 16; he lost 3. 


which they 








How many does he still have? 


have tend- 
ed all day 
in the fields. 





2 C=Class. 



116 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 





o 




Spelling 


00 

3.2- 


Age of 


0) □ 




Typical 


fe-o § 


Children 




Arithmetic, Typical Problems 


Sentences 


Z CUM 


C. elemen- 




Written subtraction of 2 num- 






tary (2) 




bers less than 100 without 






1st year 


Syl- 


borrowing. 






7 to 8 


labic 


1. A merchant had a piece of 






years. 




material 85 yards long. He 
sold 13 yards. How many 
yards of the material were 
left? 

2. A cashier receives 48 cents, 
he pays out 6 cents. How 
much has he left? 

3. A child has 64 marbles, 
his companion has 21. How 
many more has the first than 
the second? 

Subtraction of 2 numbers from 




20 

to 
24 
mis- 
takes 


C. elemen- 




1 to WOO by "borrowing" 


3 At night by 


12 


tary 


Hes- 


1. A box of oranges contains 


the dark 


to 19 


2d year 


itat- 


604. They sell 87. 


roads the 


mis- 


8 to 9 
years 


ing 


How many remain in the 
box? 

2. The sum of $900 is divided 
between two persons. The 
first received $548. What 
is the share of the second? 

3. In order to pay a debt 
of $725, a person made a 
payment of $467. How 
much is still due? 


villagers re- 
turned 
from the 
market 
with the 
heavy bas- 
kets which 
they had 
carried away 
in the morn- 
ing full of 
fruit. 


takes 


C. Inter- 




Simple Problems; one divi- 




7 to 


mediate 




sion. 




11 


1st year 




1. To make a dress 7 yards 




mis- 


9 to 10 


Flu- 


of cloth are necessary. How 




takes 


years 


ent 


many dresses can one make 
from 89 yards of cloth? 

2. The sum of $424 is divided 
among 8 persons. How 
much does each one receive? 

3. 4 A person buys 6 watches 
for $102. What is the price 
of one watch? 







VANEY AND BINET's TESTS OF INSTRUCTION 



117 





"o 




Spelling 


05 

2 a » 


Age of 






Typical 


<Z"S o 


Children 




Arithmetic, Typical Problems 


Sentences 


o | o 
63. a 

Z ojcfi 


C. Inter- 


Ex- 


Two-step Problems: division 


3 The diligent 




mediate 


pres- 


and subtraction or subtrac- 


pupils study 


4 to 


2d year 


sive. 


tion and division. 


their 


6 


10 to 11 




1. A merchant had in the 


lessons in 


mis- 


years. 




store 343 yards of cloth. He 
sold 285 yards. The re- 
mainder is worth $783. 
What is the value of one 
yard? 

2. A workman received $250 
in the month of February 
which has 28 days. He 
saved $55. How much did 
he spend each day? 

3. 4 In order to make 54 mat- 
tresses, it is necessary to 
expend $3,429. What is the 
price of the material used 
in making the mattresses if 
the work of each mattress 
cost $6.50? 


the books 
which they 
have 
brought 
from the 
school 
and play 
when they 
have fin- 
ished. 


takes 



In France it has been agreed that one should take 
as a measure of retardation constituting a mentally 
deficient child (un arriere) a retardation of two years 
if a child is less than nine years old, and a retardation 
of three years if he is nine or more years old. 

But age in years is not always a safe guide in deter- 
mining who are mentally deficient children. A child 
may have been assigned to a class which does not 
correspond to his degree of knowledge, because of his 
age, or because he is a dullard. Nor are the grades 
of work in the school classes of the same year of the 
same degree of difficulty, or of excellence. In different 



3 The typical sentences are translations. Sentences graded to the 
mentality of American children could easily be worked out. 

^The problems have in some instances been slightly changed, the 
sums expended being in U. S. money. 



118 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

sections of the same city there may be very different 
standards of work. School age, then, can only help 
in selecting those pupils who are to be tested, to deter- 
mine their degree of instruction. A pupil who is three 
years behind the normal age for his grade and who has 
attended school regularly, may be suspected of being 
mentally defective and in need of the instruction 
afforded by the special class. 

A pupil who is sub-syllabic in reading, who makes 
twenty-five or more mistakes in dictation, who solves 
the problems given for 6 to 7 years, ought to be as- 
signed to the " preparatory course," corresponding to 
the first grade, in American Schools. 

In order to be assigned to what would be a second 
grade, a pupil must be able to read by syllables, make 
from 20 to 24 mistakes in dictation, and solve the 
problems for 7 to 8 years. 

These tests should be given to the pupils individ- 
ually. When they are given to the class as a whole 
it is difficult to avoid communication between pupils. 
Then the pupil's manner of attacking the test may 
give the examiner valuable points. "His hesitations, 
the nature of his errors and his method of work in arith- 
metic are a reflection, full of surprises sometimes, of the 
instruction which has been given and of the lapses in 
his school attendance. If one often finds here an ex- 
cuse for the pupil's lack of knowledge, one some- 
times discovers here the mark of a native intelligence 
which has been neglected. Some sort of simplifica- 
tion in the operations of arithmetic for example, may 
disclose an aptitude that would never have been 
suspected from the wholly dry result of a collective 
test, whose working out one has not been able to 
follow." 

Vaney emphasizes the point that the child should 
be treated so cordially at the examination that he 



VANEY AND BINET's TESTS OF INSTRUCTION 119 

will wholly reveal himself to the examiner, and to 
bring this about he must not be frightened and must 
be, so far as possible, placed among conditions simi- 
lar to those in which he is accustomed to work. He 
should be encouraged with friendly words and placed 
at his ease by a good-natured intimacy. 

Reading Test 

The first test is carried out in reading. "The 
differentiation of the five degrees is made by the 
general fluency of utterance, the pauses correct or 
faulty, or the inflection of the voice in the course of 
the sentence." 

Sub=Syllabic Reading 

The degree sub-syllabic is that of the child who 
has not yet emerged from the method stage of reading. 
The child simply knows his letters and can put them 
together, so as to read words of one or perhaps two 
syllables, but he has not mastered the elements of 
reading sufficiently to enable him to read so that a 
listener can understand what he is reading, without 
following the book. 

Syllabic Reading 

In syllabic reading the pupil makes a pause after 
each syllable. He reads thus: "I-see-a-pret-ty-lit-tle- 
bird-ie." He makes some substitutions of letters and 
some omissions. He is confused by letters having 
more than one sound, as the final d after p, k, and the 
sibilant sounds. One can, however, understand the 
pupil when he reads any ordinary book. 

Hesitating Reading 

In hesitating reading the pupil hitches along by 
words or groups of words, making many more pauses 



120 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

than are necessary to give the sense, e. g., "My father- 
had excited-my curiosity-too keenly-to refuse-to satisy- 
it-later." 

Fluent Reading 

In fluent reading the pupil makes the pauses at 
the signs of punctuation, but reads along in the same 
tone of voice whatever the context, as if he did not 
understand the sense of what he is reading. 

Expressive Reading 

The pupil reads expressively when he shows by 
correct pauses, as called for by the sense of the punctua- 
tion, and by correct modulation of the voice to express 
different shades of meaning, that he has grasped the 
idea of what he is reading. 

Vaney says: "The length of the selection read 
matters little since it is the rate taken by the reader 
which determines the degree. One will, however, 
avoid prolonging the test beyond a minute, because the 
young child is fatigued quickly, and mistakes accumu- 
late as soon as one exceeds one's power of attention. 
Ten lines of syllabic reading are a maximum." 

Test in Arithmetic 

The statement of the problem is dictated. If 
the pupil is too unskillful in writing, and, with all the 
more reason if he does not know how to write, the state- 
ment is read by the examiner. In this case the figures 
of the statement are all that the pupil writes. A good 
answer obtained by mental calculation is considered 
as valuable as that obtained by written work. 

When one of the three problems of the degree is 
solved without an error, the degree is passed. Two 
problems are dictated, however, in order to be cer- 
tain that the pupil has not chosen the right numeri- 
cal operation by chance. The way of solving the prob- 



VANEY AND BINET's TESTS OF INSTRUCTION 121 

lem serves only to give subsidiary information on the 
subject's turn of mind, or on the value of the instruc- 
tion he has received. 

Some children who have attended school only a 
little have been initiated in the family into peculiar 
methods of arithmetic. There are some who get at a 
solution by groping along unit by unit in working out 
the problem. A long addition is substituted for a 
multiplication; an allotment among eight persons is 
made by two or three successive distributions. At- 
tempts are made to add 7 enough times to find out 
the number of times it is contained in 89. All these 
peculiarities of the examinations should be noted. 
They may be used to make a decision in cases of doubt 
as to the final result of the tests of instruction. 

One should not judge a child's ability in arithme- 
tic as quickly as in reading ; for the latter a few minutes 
are enough. But problems demand a long enough 
time for the statement, for the finding out of the solu- 
tion, and for the performing of the numerical operations. 
This is why it is necessary to omit from the test all that 
is not absolutely indispensable, e. g., the written line 
of reasoning. The attention of the mentally deficient 
child is quickly fatigued, and because of this condition, 
some of the answers are apt to be incorrect and even 
grotesque. "To demand" says Vaney, "in addition 
to the operation the line of reasoning in written form, 
is to demand too much of the child." 

Spelling Test or Dictation 

The spelling test consists in dictating a sentence 
of the scale. A single sentence is sufficient in the ma- 
jority of cases. One should dictate a second if the 
number of errors in the first should be on the line of 
two ages. The children of each age are distinguished 



122 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

by the number of errors. The method of correc- 
tion employed is very simple. 

Two kinds of errors are considered: 

1. The misspelling of the single words: 

2. The misuse of words; as the use of a singular 
verb with a plural subject or the incorrect use of one 
homonym for another. 

A. "The young shepherdesses of the villages re- 
turn in the dark night with their lambs that they 
have tended all day in the fields." 

In sentence A of the scale, which is translated 
above, there are twenty-three words which it would 
be possible to misspell and some eleven nouns, pro- 
nouns and verbs for which different forms might be 
incorrectly substituted. Of course, the mistakes in 
English would be fewer than in French with its great 
number of inflected words. 

Vaney counts only one fault in spelling and one 
fault of usage for each word, thus there can be only 
two faults counted for each word. 

In marking the errors, mistakes in punctuation 
are not counted. 

"When the results of each of the three tests 
have been marked according to the scale, it is easy to 
ascertain the general retardation of the candidate for 
the auxiliary class. A boy of nine or ten years who is 
sub-syllabic in reading, fails on the oral or written 
subtraction of the first degree, and makes twenty-five 
errors in one of the sentences, has an average retard- 
ation of -^-§-^ = 3 years. 

Another pupil of the same age who is retarded 
2 years in reading, 3 years in arithmetic and 2 years 
in spelling would have an average of ^4 A = 2^ years. 
According to the adopted standard the former pupil 
alone would be considered mentally deficient, 3 years 
of retardation being necessary to place a subject nine 



VANEY AND BINET's TESTS OF INSTRUCTION 123 

years of age in this class, unless the psychological ex- 
amination should show that it is a matter of ignorance 
and not of mental deficiency. The diagnosis should 
not rest on a deficiency in one subject alone. There 
are many normal children who are weak in either 
arithmetic or spelling. For them, there is supplemen- 
tary instruction which enables them to make sufficient 
advancement in the regular school and also sometimes 
a sudden awakening of aptitudes which have remained 
dormant for a long time. It is not the same with the 
mental defective who is retarded in his general in- 
telligence. 

There is no doubt that norms of instruction for 
the different years of school life similar to those pre- 
sented above will do much to make school instruction 
more efficient and more effective. Such norms must 
be worked out for American schools. Binet thinks 
that such tests will protect the child by showing the 
results of poor teaching and will protect the teacher 
against false judgments on the part of supervisory 
officers by furnishing an accurate means of judging 
whether the teaching is efficient or otherwise. 

The writer has used the tests in examining chil- 
dren who wish to take out "work certificates." He 
has found them of great aid in determining whether or 
not a child has a sufficient amount of school knowl- 
edge to be allowed to leave school and go to work un- 
der the educational qualification of the Rhode Island 
compulsory attendance law. 



124 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Chapter Twelve 

WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE OF 
MENTALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN 

Of the 35,662 children in England and Wales who 
needed special instruction, the special schools of Eng- 
land provided, in 1907, accommodations for 9,082, of 
whom 4,986 were in London; outside of London there 
were only 60 or 70 special schools in all England. 

It is evident that in spite of the efforts made in 
some large towns, the provision of facilities for the 
suitable education of feeble-minded children is very 
inadequate. "This means either that the child drags a- 
long hopelessly in one of the ordinary schools, wasting 
the time and energy of the teacher and the rest of the 
class, or that he is given up as imbecile, and stays at 
home, sinking deeper and deeper into mental stagnation, 
and needing continual watching and care by his 
mother." 

Lapage ventures the assertion that under present 
conditions, special schools may be in some degree harm- 
ful if the pupils who leave are not subject to life-long 
control after leaving school. 

"Nothing can be more foolish," continues Lapage, 
"than to train and give a simple education to and then 
to let loose over a thousand children who, in spite of 
the work done by the after-care associations, are many 
of them certain to sink to low levels and swell the ranks 
of those needing relief." 

Dr. Kerr, Medical Officer to the London School 
Board, says that many of the children who leave the 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 125 

special schools speedily become "irregular and uncon- 
trollable." "About a third of these children," he 
thinks/ 'will be capable of materially contributing to 
their own livelihood after leaving school, one-third will 
partially contribute, but require an after-care associa- 
tion of some kind to look after them"; and the other 
third should not be allowed to mix with the rest of the 
community, but should be cared for in custodial 
institutions. 

The British Royal Commission on the Care and Con- 
trol of theFeeble-Minded estimated that after all the low 
grade cases had been excluded from the special classes, 
47 per cent, of the children in such classes would never 
be able to earn their own living. "28 per cent, would 
probably earn, under control, and 22 per cent, would 
be possible wage earners." 

The Commission then concludes "that the results 
of this survey confirm the general opinion that the special 
school system is rather an incident in the general scheme 

than of main importance in itself and not the 

central point of any such scheme." 

Lapage 1 thinks that the evidence which has since 
been collected as to the wage-earning ability of the 
mentally defective, proves this view of the Royal 
Commission too hopeful. The After-Care Committee 
of Birmingham, England, which has done so much for 
the feeble-minded children of that city, reported, 
through Mrs. Hume Pinsent, in 1910, that of the 650 
children who had left the auxiliary schools of Birming- 
ham during the nine preceding years, only 18 per cent, 
were doing remunerative work, and at least 65 per cent, 
were not. 

The Employment Bureau which had been main- 
tained by the Committee for four years, was given up 
owing to the impossibility of obtaining and retaining 

!See Feeble-Mindedness in Children of School-Age, p. 35. 



126 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

ordinary situations for any but an extremely limited 
number of the high grade cases. 

The Central After-Care Committee of the British 
National Association for the Feeble-Minded is doing, 
through its local branches, a very valuable work in 
the way of gathering statistics concerning children who 
leave the auxiliary schools. The Constitution of the 
Central Committee is as follows: 

CONSTITUTION OF 
CENTRAL AFTER-CARE COMMITTEE 

1. There shall be two ordinary meetings of the Committee in each 
year. 

(a) On the second Friday of May, which shall take place in London. 

(b) At the time of the Conference, which shall take place at the end 
of October or in November. 

2. At the meeting in May the general arrangements for the hold- 
ing of the Annual Conference at the close of the year shall be settled, 
including the subjects for discussion and readers of papers, the Local 
Committee having been previously invited to send in suggestions for 
subjects and readers. 

3. Two Delegates from each After-Care Committee shall be annual- 
ly elected to the Central Body, except in the case of the Committee at 
whose centre the Conference is to be held, and of London, both of 
which shall be entitled to elect three delegates to the Central Body. 
The election shall take place previously to the May meeting, and be at 
once communicated to the Secretary. 

4. If the Committee of the Centre in which the Conference is held 
cannot entirely meet the Conference expenses, the Central Body may 
be asked to assist. An estimate of the expenses of the Conference shall 
be furnished by the Local Committee at the previous May meeting. 

5. It is desirable that a voluntary fund should be raised for 
Conference purposes. 

6. The cost of printing programmes shall be borne locally. The 
drawing up and cost of printing the Report shall be undertaken by the 
Central Body. 

7. The place of the next Conference shall be settled by the Dele- 
gates at the Annual Conference. 

8. The Central Body shall supply to the Local Committee any 
information as to the working and arrangements of holding a Con- 
ference which the Local Committee may require. 

9. The arrangements for a Reception Committee shall be under- 
taken by the Lo<5al Committee. 

10. The Local Committee shall undertake local notices and news- 
paper reports, and the Central Committee notices and reports for the 
general press. 

11. Any alteration or amendment of these rules can only be made 
by the Central Committee after at least four weeks' notice to that 
effect previously to the next ordinary meeting. 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 127 

12. Quorum for ordinary meetings shall be three. 
Note — It is recommended: 

(a) That Local Education Committees should be asked to pur- 
chase copies of the Conference Reports for the use of their 
Head Teachers in Special Schools. 

(b) That a fly-leaf be attached to the invitation to Conferences 
for intending purchasers of the Report to fill in and return to 
the Central Body so as to ensure a certain supply of Reports 
being purchased. 

According to the report for 1909 of the Chairman 
of the National Association for the Feeble-Minded, 
Sir William Chance, sixteen centers reported to the 
Central Committee statistics concerning the work of 
local after-care committees. An analysis of the stat- 
istics from thirteen of these centers, is given in the 
accompanying table. 

One of the most efficient of the local after-care 
committees is that at Birmingham. 

Through the courtesy of Hon. Albert Halstead, 
United States Consul at Birmingham, we are able to 
give a rather detailed report of the organization and 
work of the Birmingham Committee. This sub- 
committee of the Birmingham Education Committee, 
called the Special Schools After-Care Sub-Committee, 
is made up of persons who make a point of visiting 
mentally deficient or crippled children, in order to 
assist them. It has a membership of thirty-four 
co-opted members, including five doctors, a clergyman, 
the Secretary of the Education Committee, the Educa- 
tion Committee's Medical Superintendent, the Su- 
perintendent of Public Schools, two District Superin- 
tendents of School Attendance, and other persons, 
especially ladies, who are interested in mentally de- 
fective school children. 

The committee aims to keep an accurate record 
of the careers of the children after they leave the 
special schools, seeking in this way to find out to what 
extent they become self-supporting, or partially self- 



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WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 129 

supporting, to find out how far they are morally re- 
sponsible and how many of them have children either 
legitimate or illegitimate, and, finally, to help those 
capable, to find work although, as has been noted above, 
the Employment Bureau of the Committee has been 
discontinued. 

The Committee's methods of work are interesting. 
Each member looks after seven or eight children, 
visiting them from time to time. These visitors are 
persons who, so far as possible, have made the ac- 
quaintance of the children while they were still in 
school. Five or six visitors are assigned to each 
special school where they make the acquaintance of 
the children who are soon to leave and get valuable 
information concerning them from their teachers. 

The sub-committee holds three conferences a 
year. At each conference each member makes a re- 
port on a special blank concerning each child under 
his charge. The form asks for information concerning 
the child's "age, special school training, the length of 
time in a special school, regularity of attendance, 
school record; if employed, the name and address of 
employer, occupation and special aptitude of child, 
whether occupation is regular or not, the average 
wages, whether the child has been in an institution, 
workhouse or asylum; names of parents and their 
occupation; whether mother was at work during preg- 
nancy; home conditions, including over-crowding, gen- 
eral poverty, insufficient nourishment for children, 
the number of children at work, at school, or at home; 
whether friends are willing and able to support the 
mentally deficient child; whether it lives at home or 
with friends; whether useful at home or not; whether 
it has been in trouble with the police; information as 
to character, conduct, health and marriage; character 
of the family; its eccentricities; whether there are 



130 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

criminal tendencies; whether the family is in constant 
receipt of poor-law relief, and whether the family is 
specially talented." 

Persons who have had defectives in their employ 
fill out another form which shows what the defectives 
have been able to do towards earning a living. Another 
form contains data which show whether the child should 
be sent to an institution. Cases of especial difficulty 
are discussed by the members at the conferences and 
the information contained on the forms is preserved 
for future reference. In her report to the Birmingham 
Education Committee in June 1910, Mrs. Hume Pin- 
sent makes the following observations: 

"An investigation of the statistics previously 
given shows that out of 316 feeble-minded persons who 
have left school and are still alive and whose wherea- 
bouts are known, only 36 per cent, are earning wages 
at all; only 6.6 per cent, are earning as much as 10 
shillings ($2.43) a week and less than 1 per cent, are 
earning 15 shillings ($3.64 a week). 

"We have already explained that if the numbers 
'lost sight of had been included, the percentage of 
wage-earners would be much lower and we have proofs 
that the "lost sight of' belong to a class who rarely 
become wage-earners. The After-Care Sub-Committee, 
therefore, after nine years' experience with defectives, 
would like again to repeat their conviction that for 
a large percentage of the feeble-minded permanent 
care and control is necessary for the following reasons: 

1. "To enable them to contribute towards their 
own support: 

2. "To save them from harsh treatment at home 
and in the streets: 

3. "To prevent their becoming drunkards, crim- 
inals and prostitutes; 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 131 

4. "To prevent their giving birth to children who 
must almost certainly grow up to be a burden on the 
community. 

"As a corollary to this, we feel we ought to add that 
when legislation has established the continuous control 
recommended by the Royal Commission on the Care 
and Control of the Feeble-Minded, then, and then 
only, will the expenditure of large sums of money on 
special schools be justified." 

To give these children an expensive training and 
then as soon as they reach the age of 16 to turn them 
out on the streets is, according to Mrs. Pinsent, a 
waste of time, money and energy of the community. 

She further points out, that until England is 
willing to provide for the continuous care of the mentally 
defective, the money spent for special schools is largely 
being thrown away, for the children are allowed to go 
out into the community and marry and reproduce 
their kind in ever increasing numbers. 

Dr. Anne Moore 3 in her report to the Public 
Education Association of New York City, under the 
title "The Feeble-Minded in New York," presents 
some very valuable and striking information. The 
section on Feeble-Minded Children in the Public 
Schools is especially pertinent to the subject of after- 
care. In opening this section, Dr. Moore makes some 
significant statements. She shows that New York 
makes no legal provision for the education of feeble- 
minded children, that the Compulsory Education Law, 
while in spirit it recognizes the right of every child to 
receive an education, curiously exempts from school 
attendance children who are "physically or mentally 
unfit," thus leaving it to parents whether they will 
send to school these children who need to have their 



3 The Feeble-Minded in New York, Anne Moore, Ph. D. Published 
by the State Charities Aid Association, New York, June 1911, 111 pages. 



132 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

small powers developed. She further shows that, 
although the Board of Education of New York City- 
has established special ungraded classes for mentally- 
defective children, and has placed the responsibility of 
reporting such children to the Inspector of Ungraded 
Classes on the school principals, yet "a year or two 
ago, out of 370 principals in Manhattan, the Bronx, 
and Richmond, 168 failed to report any children not 
making normal progress. This indicates either serious 
inability to recognize mental deficiency, or an indif- 
ference to the subject." 

The lowest estimates place the number of mentally 
deficient school children at about 1 per cent, of the 
school enrollment, while Goddard's study would 
indicate as high as three per cent. Basing our com- 
putation on the lowest estimate, there were, in 1910, 
out of the 606,568 children enrolled in the elementary 
grades and kindergartens of the New York public 
schools, probably some 6,065 mentally defective children 
needing special class instruction. 

Dr. Moore states that in 1911 there were 125 un- 
graded classes in New York City enrolling some 2,000 
defective children. A comparison of the actual en- 
rollment with the number that should be enrolled, 
brings out vividly the lack of provision in our largest 
American city for this class of unfortunate children. 

Dr. Moore points out that the children enrolled in 
these classes, are greatly benefited by the training 
they receive, but that the training is allowed to lapse 
after the children leave school. If such training 
"were continued under proper supervision, many of 
these children could be made useful and happy, and 
at least partially self-supporting. 

' ' A proper segregation law would remove from these 
classes the following hampering conditions: 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 133 

1. "Lack of power to enforce attendance upon 
defective children who might profit by special training. 

2. "Lack of provision to continue the training 
of defective children after they have reached the school 
age limit of 16. 

3. "Overcrowding of classes with cases that prop- 
erly belong in custodial institutions, to the detriment 
of the interests of the less backward children. 

4. "Unintelligent opposition." 

We give in the following pages the "after-history" 
of some fifty persons who have been in the ungraded or 
auxiliary classes of the New York schools. These 
facts were compiled by Dr. Moore, who thinks that 
they indicate that "much of the benefit of the training 
received there (in these classes) is lost through lack of 
subsequent training." Twenty of these persons are 
of Jewish parentage, 10 of German parentage, 6 Italian, 
5 Irish, 1 Swiss, and 7 are children of native-born 
Americans. 

Out of the whole number, only two seem to be 
able to hold permanent positions; "5 worked steadily 
for a few weeks at an average wage of $3.50; 12 have 
worked at odd jobs for a few days at a time; a few help 
at home. The majority are utterly incapable." 

These persons left the ungraded class: 

1. "Because of the necessity of entering some 
institution, penal or custodial; 

2. "Because, having reached the limit of school 
age, they could be no longer retained; 

3. "Because their parents insisted upon their 
going to work. The small number of cases and the in- 
completeness of individual histories prevent sweeping 
conclusions, but the facts disclosed indicate: 

(1.) "That such individuals are incapable of 
earning their living without supervision : 



134 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



(2.) "That they are a menace to the community 
when unrestrained; 

(3.) "That they are subjected to temptations 
which tend to lead them into a penal institution; 

(4.) "That in an educational or industrial insti- 
tution, they might lead a useful and happy life. 

They further indicate that, after discharge from 
the ungraded class, individuals should be followed up 
by some competent authority to the end of knowing : 

1. "To what extent they received lasting benefit 
from their training in the public schools; 

2. "What is the best method of dealing with them 
after they leave the school ; and 

3. "Where the center of infection which they 
represent is located." 

STATISTICAL TABLE 
Feeble-minded Children Formerly in the Ungraded Classes op 
the Public Schools of New York City 
Fifty Typical Cases 4 



Case 


Sex 
m 

m 

m 
m 

f 


Age 
19 

18 

17 
13 

20 


Home 


Family 


Characteristics 


1 


Poor; 10 
in 4 
rooms. 


8 children in 
family; 6 
abnormal. 


Carrier for clothier at $5.50 
a week; night school. 


2 




1 brother ab- 
normal; 
out of em- 
ployment. 


Smokes; steals; lies; nothing 
to which he can turn his 
hand; peddler for a while; 
lost job. 


3 


Fair 




$5.00 a week. 


4 


Good 




Steals; very stout, once 
hired, for a pittance, to 
exhibit himself as fat boy; 
arrested 4 times; in re- 
formatory since leaving 
school; incapable. 


5 


Good 


1 sister, 18; 
fm. 6 


Incapable; at home; does 
nothing. 



4 Table 
6 f. m.= 



prepared by Dr. Anne Moore, 
feeble-minded. 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 



135 



Case 


Sex 
m 

m 

m 

m 
m 


Age 

18 

16 
17 

16 


Home 


Family 


Characteristics 


6 


Fair 




Bad temper, "cranks;" rov- 
ing streets; employed for 
a short time in soap fac- 
tory, lost job; arrested 
once, paroled. 


7 


Poor 




Adenoids, defective speech; 
shuffling gait; papers 
made out for Syracuse; 
working at pasting, $2.00. 


8 






Hydrocephalic; pulled 
threads in a tailor shop 
for a while. 


9 






Paralytic; on streets most 
of the time. 


10 


Bad 




Tb; 6 defective eyes; cleft 
palate; smokes; steals; 
roams streets; unable to 
care for himself; idiotic. 


11 


m 
m 

f 

f 
f 


16 

17 

15 
17 


Poor 




Idiot; burned to death be- 
cause he was too stupid 
to walk away from the 
fire. 


12 






Easily led; can do neither 
mental nor physical work ; 
transferred from Ran- 
dall's Island to Syracuse, 
came home on vacation, 
overstayed time, parents 
will not pay for return. 


13 


Poor 


Parents alco- 
holic. 


Defective teeth; fond of 
boys; worked few weeks 
in factory; mother wants 
to place her in service. 


14 






Epileptic; immoral; attrac- 
tive; "looking for work." 


15 


Poor 




Housework at home for a 
time; niching, six weeks, 
$3.50; mother would like 
to have her taught to work; 
walks the streets at night 
with her "lady friend." 



«Tb=Tubercular. 



136 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Case 


Sex 
m 

m 
f 

m 

m 

m 

f 

m 
m 


Age 
17 

14 
16 
13 
16 

18 

17 

16 


Home 


1 
Family 


Characteristics 


16 






Defective eyes; no co-or- 
dination; stubborn, in- 
capable, disobedient; ar- 
rested many times; has 
worked occasionally on 
moving vans or at paint- 
ing; is usually discharged 
after half a day. 


17 


Poor 


Brother fm. ; 
9 children; 
shiftless. 


Has sold papers; cannot 
hold job; loses it at once. 


18 


Poor 




Ill in infancy; repulsive; 
was on Randall's Island; 
withdrawn because moth- 
er was lonely; easily led. 


19 






Partially paralyzed; was on 
Randall's Island; with- 
drawn to help father in 
saloon. 


20 


Poor; 
3 in 1 
room. 


Mother al- 
coholic; on 
Blackwell's 
Island. 


Club-footed; peg teeth; 
quarrelsome; has been in 
Catholic Protectory twice. 


21 


Poor 


Mother 
fm. 


Enlarged glands; bad teeth; 
has tantrums; steals; 
crim inal tendencies; 
sometimes peddles. 


22 


Fair 




Does housework at home; 
papers have been made 
out for Newark, parents 
object because of possible 
earning power; will prob- 
ably injure someone in 
temper fit. 


23 




Mother fm; 
mother's 
father fm. 


Incapable; run over by ex- 
press wagon ; sometimes 
runs errands or does odd 
jobs. 


24 


Fair 




Scarlet fever; heart disease; 
rheumatism; defective 
vision; incapable; at 
home; does no work. 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 



137 



Sex 


Age 


f 


16 


m 


18 


m 
m 


17 


13 


m 


11 


m 


16 


m 


16 


m 


15 


m 


16 


f 


16 


f 


17 


m 


16 



Home 



Fair 



Poor 



Poor 



Fair 



Family 



Father tb. 



Sister fm, 
married. 



Mother fm; 
Bister deaf 
mute 



Brother fm ; 
sister back- 
ward. 



Family irre- 
sponsible. 



Characteristics 



Helps with housework and 
care of children; once 
worked in saloon; "ex- 
pects to marry." 



Has been arrested; never 
worked. 



Runs errands. 



Low-grade idiot; self-abuse; 
runs streets. 



Bad language ; corrupts 
smaller children; violent; 
runs streets; incendiary 
tendencies. 



Has been in the House of 
Refuge and in the Truant 
School. 



Steals; runs streets; has 
been arrested five times. 



Worked a few weeks, had 
trouble with employer; 
high grade, capable of 
work. 



Worked two weeks in laun- 
dry. 



Immoral : needs constant 
supervision; violent tem- 
per; in candy store a few 
weeks filling boxes; spends 
evenings on the streets 
or bridge. 



Epileptic; at home, incap- 
able of doing any work. 



Self-abuse ; papers made out 
for Rome, family refused 
at last moment; engaged 
to be married. 



138 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Case 


Sex 
m 

f 
m 

m 
m 

m 

m 

f 
m 

m 


Age 
17 

17 
18 

16 
18 

18 

17 

12 
16 


Home 


Family 


Characteristics 


37 




Parents 
dead; lives 
with sis- 
ter. 


Vagrant; imbecile. 


38 






Large; ill-shaped; pretty 
face; at home, incapable 
of doing any work. 


39 


Bad 


Father tb. 


Scarlet fever; odd jobs; ped- 
dling; arrested for ped- 
dling without license; in 
jail two days, mother 
paid fine. 


40 


Good 




Defective speech; violent; 
at home. 


41 


Fair 




Rickets, palsy, paralysis; 
large head; incapable of 
work, at home. 


42 






Arrested May, 1909, black- 
mail, blackhand extor- 
tion; suspended sentence. 


43 






Arrested July 29 for steal- 
ing transfers; sent to 
Catholic Protectory. 


44 


Bad 


Brother fm. 


At home. 


45 


Bad; 9 in 
3 rooms 


8 children; 
1 crippled. 


Eighth child; truant; 
smokes; run streets. 


46 


Poor 


Mother fm; 

5 children 

all fm; 
two sisters 
have ille- 
gitimate 
children. 


Moral degenerate; smokes; 
cruel ; vicious ; delivery 
boy, 25 cents a day; 
father objected to his 
work; at home helping 
mother; various attempts 
made to get him committed 
balked by mother; called 
"Fire" in a moving pic- 
ture show and caused 
panic. 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 



139 



Case 


Sex 
m 

f 

f 
f 


Age 
16 

17 
10 


Home 


Family 


Characteristics 


47 




Parents alco- 
holic; 
mother 
dead. 


Relatives support him with 
difficulty; for a time in a 
factory; for a time ped- 
dled ; cannot work steadi- 
ly enough to earn living. 


48 




Parents alco- 
holic; 
mother fm; 
4 members 
of family 
on Ran- 
dall's Is- 
land. 


On Randall's Island. 


49 






Quiet and good; housework 
at home. 


50 




18 children 
in family; 
4 living. 


Truant; steals; now in 
House of Good Counsel, 
White Plains. 



Under present conditions the managers of institu- 
tions for the feeble-minded are often powerless to hold 
serious cases that have been committed to their care 
because of a paternal request for discharge, even 
though experience shows that feeble-minded individ- 
uals who may improve under the discipline of an in- 
stitution lose the benefits of the training they have 
received when they leave it, and again become de- 
pendent, or drift into crime or immorality. 



After=Care in Germany and Switzerland. 

"The experiences" says Bottger, "in cities far 
different in character, prove that in Germany from 70 
to 80 per cent, of the auxiliary school pupils are capa- 
ble of earning a living." 7 



7 See Article, Berufswahl der Hilfsschuler, Handbuch des Heil- 
padagogik, p. 264. 



140 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Gardening and farming are recommended as the 
best occupations for auxiliary school boys, but, unfor- 
tunately, the greater number of the auxiliary school 
pupils live in large cities and cannot, for this reason, 
easily enter agricultural occupations, and usually the 
parents are unwilling to allow them to go away from 
the city to enter into the unknown and unaccustomed 
conditions of agricultural pursuits. 

In the cities, the simplest occupations open to 
them are those of street and of common laborer. Such 
work the former auxiliary pupils perform well under 
proper direction and oversight. They also perform 
well many lines of work in the textile trades, as much 
of this work demands only mechanical activity with 
little thought, a constant, uniform, punctual repetition 
of the same manipulations. Bottger states that many 
feeble-minded workers are able to do this manual work 
just as well as their normal fellows, and often show 
much zeal and perseverance. 

The best occupation for girls directly after leaving 
the auxiliary school, is housework at home, and aid in 
the care of the younger children, under the supervision 
of the mother; also knitting, darning, mending, and 
sewing. They may be able to earn their board as 
servants or waitresses in families where a calm and 
patient housewife herself works with them, and can 
give them the necessary directions and encouragement. 
Only after such a preparation will they be able to fill 
positions as housemaids. Others earn their living 
as tailoresses, laundresses, or in similar positions, and 
others in the textile trades. 

Of the 74 boys and 59 girls who left the 12 auxiliary 
schools of Hamburg, 14 boys secured apprentice places 
as gardeners, bakers, cabinet-makers, tinsmiths, ma- 
sons, and barbers, 17 went into the country as ser- 
vants or garden-workers, 22 became errand boys in 



WAGE EARNING AND AFTER CARE 141 

Hamburg. Of the 14 apprentices only one could be 
provided for in Hamburg; the others went to master- 
workers in the smaller cities or larger villages. Of 
the 26 girls, 2 went to homes, 1 to a school of house- 
hold science, 14 secured places as servants in the 
city, 6 in the country, 4 went to work in the industries ; 
2 are undecided as to positions. 

After-Care Societies have been formed during the 
last fifteen years in Leipsic, Konigsburg, Breslau, 
Frankfort-on-the-Main, Zwickau and other cities of 
Germany. These societies appoint a guardian for 
every boy and girl. This guardian acts as an adviser 
and helper in co-operation with the teachers, school 
physician, and parents, in the choice of an occupation 
for the child, and in seeking a reliable, intelligent 
master of trade or employer who will guarantee a 
thorough trade training. They seek to guide the con- 
duct of their charges in a kindly manner, to prevent, by 
advice, frequent changes of occupation, and seek to pro- 
tect them from exploitation and dangers, which, because 
of their weakness, threaten them in public life. By the 
payment of apprentices' premiums, they gain the right 
to concern themselves for their charges during the 
apprenticeship, and their advice and instructions 
find in the apprentice-masters willing listeners. 

The societies also pay premiums to such masters 
as have trained mentally defective boys in their trades. 
In Saxony it has been the practice since 1865 for 
every master to receive, on his application, after the 
completed apprenticeship of a mentally defective boy, a 
premium of 150 M from the Minister of the Interior. 

In Switzerland, the "Albert Fisler Fund" serves 
this purpose, paying premiums to masters of a trade; 
textile overseers and others who succeed in training for 
some permanent work a mentally defective apprentice 
after his dismissal from an institution or special class, 



142 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

to such a degree that he can earn his living, such 
premiums being in recognition of their proven skill 
and patience. 

In the same commendable manner the Konigsberg, 
Berlin, and other After-Care Societies (Fursorgevereine) 
carry on their work. 

One is not able to explain why more than twice 
as many auxiliary pupils are able to earn their living 
in Germany as in England. It may be due to the fact 
that there is more demand in the former country for 
the coarser kinds of labor, or it may be due to the su- 
perior patience of the German people and very likely 
the premiums just mentioned may be an incentive 
for the employers to keep the mentally deficient in 
their employ. We have, however, much to learn as to 
the best way of dealing with these unfortunate boys 
and girls after they have left the auxiliary schools. 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 145 



Appendix A 

REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE ORGANIZATION OF AUX- 
ILIARY SCHOOLS IN BERLIN* 

The auxiliary schools shall so serve the interests of the children of 
the community, who, on account of mental and physical defects, can- 
not pursue the instruction of the regular school with success, that they 
may either be returned to the regular schools or may obtain in the 
auxiliary schools a suitable preparation for later life. 

The auxiliary schools are departments of the public Volksschule. 

Admission to the Preliminary Class (Vorklasse) 

Such children as have attended without success the lowest class 
of the regular school for a year, and after the work of the year must 
still remain in the lower division of the class, may be assigned to one 
of the preliminary classes for the instruction of mentally retarded 
children. 

To the preliminary class may be assigned before the close of the 
year, such children as proved themselves unfitted for the work of the 
regular school. The direction of these classes is given to an experienced 
auxiliary school teacher. 

The methods of instruction to be employed and the number of 
pupils to a class, shall be the same as for the lower grades of the aux- 
iliary school. The number of recitation hours per week shall, as a rule, 
be 20. 

The school board determines the time of admission. The necessity 
for admission to these classes will be decided upon by the teacher of 
the regular class in question, the school physician, the principal and 
the school inspector. 

Those children who, after attending the preliminary class for one 
year, pass the examination for the second class of the regular school, 
or make such progress that their advancement in the regular schools 
seems probable, shall be promoted to these schools. 

At first, only one preliminary class is to be opened in a school 
district. 

When they have proved themselves, their increase will be con- 
sidered as need is shown, but for this increase, the approval of the dis- 
trict board will be necessary. 

*These regulations are severely criticised by auxiliary school teach- 
ers in Germany as being a compromise measure in that they hold out 
the false hope that auxiliary school pupils may be able to do the work 
of the regular schools. See Zur Neuordnung des Berliner Hilfsschul- 
wesens, Dressier, Die Hilfsschule, May 1912, pp. 125-131. 



146 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Admission to the Auxiliary School 

The children who have attended the Vorklasse for one year with 
little or no advancement, are to be thoroughly examined to see whether 
they shall be transferred to the auxiliary school, or in case they have 
had a long period of sickness during their attendance in the preliminary 
class, a still longer trial in the same class is to be recommended. No 
child is to remain more than two years in the Vorklasse. Children 
who are undoubtedly feeble-minded may be assigned at once to the 
district auxiliary school. Children who are pronounced idiots, shall 
not be sent to the auxiliary school, but if possible shall be transferred 
to an idiot asylum. 

In the examination of children of the Vorklasse, the teacher of this 
class, the principal of the district school with which the class is con- 
nected, the director of the auxiliary school, the school physician, and 
the school inspector are to take part. 

On a day designated by the school board, the teacher of the Vor- 
klasse shall hand to the school board through the principal of the school, 
a list of pupils of the Vorklasse with a short sketch of each and his 
recommendations in regard to promotion into the regular school, or to 
the auxiliary school. The decision is left to the school inspector. 

Children who, on account of deafness, are retarded in the regular 
schools, shall be assigned directly to a special division of the auxiliary 
schools designed for children who have defective hearing. For an ex- 
pert opinion on children with defective hearing, an ear specialist may 
be called in consultation. 

Admission to the class for children with defective hearing shall 
occur, as a rule, only in April. 

Organization 

1. Whenever it is any way feasible, the existing supplementary 
classes (Nebenklassen) will be united, forming an auxiliary school of 
five graded classes. The fifth and the fourth classes form the lowest 
grade (Unterstufe), the third and second, the middle grade (Mittelstufe), 
and the first class, the highest grade (Oberstufe). Generally, pupils 
remain at least two years with the same teacher. In the lowest grade 
of every auxiliary school, parallel classes may be formed. 

2. The supplementary classes not organized in independent aux- 
iliary schools, consist of classes of the lower and middle grades, and from 
them the larger children of whom a longer school walk may be required, 
are transferred when ready for advancement to the nearest auxiliary 
school. These supplementary classes are under the charge of the 
principal of the district school with which they are connected. 

3. The departments of the auxiliary school for pupils with de- 
fective hearing, are to be so organized, if possible, that they shall have 
at least three graded classes. 

4. The membership of the classes of the lower grade shall be 18: 
of the middle grade 20; of the higher grade 22; and of the classes for 
children with defective hearing 12. 

5. In the supplementary classes, the principle of co-education 
of the sexes, is to be carried out. 

6. The dismissal of pupils shall be attended to by the office of 
the school board, not by the school commission. 



APPENDIX 147 

7. Children of the Vorklasse and of the auxiliary schools, who are 
mentally deranged or markedly epileptic, may be excluded from these 
schools, and may be assigned to a corresponding city institution or, 
by order of the school board, may receive private instruction at the 
expense of the city. 

8. The auxiliary schools are, as a rule, carried on in the district 
schoolbuildings, and are independent departments of the district schools, 
the principals of which have the office of building supervisor. 

Scope of Supplementary Class Instruction 

1. The auxiliary schools give instruction in the same essential 
subjects as the regular schools, and have besides manual work as a 
required stud}' for boys and girls. 

For children afflicted with speech defects, a special course in articu- 
lation is arranged. 

2. For instruction in the supplementary classes, an outline of a 
course of study is taken as a basis, which aims for a unity of structure 
in the most important subjects for the general supplementary class 
system. By this outline, the teaching corps is granted so much freedom 
that wide latitude in the development of method is in no way restricted. 
Practical experiences gathered from the teachers will later serve to 
give to the outline the more permanent form of a course of study. 
Until then, the now current division of studies remains in force. 

The classes for deaf children carry out their instruction in the 
regular subjects according to a special outline of studies. 

3. The promotion of the children in the supplementary classes 
occurs at Easter. Promotion is made if the pupil has attained the aim 
laid down for the class in German. In number and manual work 
the children are grouped in special classes, according to their ability. 

The Teaching Corps 

As fit candidates for the office of auxiliary school teachers, only 
such persons are to be considered as have shown themselves capable 
in the work of the regular schools, have attended a training course for 
auxiliary school teachers, have developed skill in the line of manual 
work, and, finally, have shown evidence of a personal inclination toward 
psychological studies and social work. 

1. For the direction of the classes for children with defective 
hearing, those teachers are favored who have passed the examination 
required for teachers of the deaf and dumb. 

2. The teachers for the auxiliary schools are chosen by the 
school board from the regularly appointed district teachers, on the 
recommendation of the school inspectors. 

3. The teachers of the auxiliary schools, of the schools for deaf 
children, and of the Vorklassen have, along with the instruction and 
training of their pupils, to consider the special care of the children a 
duty pertaining to their office. 

4. The teachers receive the legal salary as district teachers, and 
are obliged, in case of need, in addition to instruction in the supple- 
mentary classes, to give a sufficient amount of instruction in the regular 
classes, to bring their whole number of hours of service up to that re- 
quired of the regular teachers. While engaged in the work of the regular 



148 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

schools, they are under the direction of the principals of such schools . 
These teachers receive an annual personal remuneration of 300 M. 
After a five year probationary period in the auxiliary school, this is 
changed to an official remuneration of the same amount, which entitles 
the holder to a pension. The school board reserves the right to transfer 
auxiliary teachers to the regular schools with withdrawal of the addi- 
tional salary. 

In case the teachers during the five years of probationary service 
have to give up their teaching and be replaced, their pay ceases from the 
first of the month following the time of their withdrawal until their 
return. 

The Director of the Auxiliary School 

The directors of auxiliary schools are appointed by the city council 
from a list of auxiliary school teachers selected by a conference of school 
inspectors, and recommended by the school board. 

The conditions for appointment are that the teachers have at least 
five years of successful experience in auxiliary school work and have 
made efforts to continue their education as auxiliary school teachers; 
that they further have thoroughly mastered the subject of manual 
work, and possess the necessary qualifications for a school director. 

They bear the title of chief teacher, and must have the approval 
of the royal provincial board of instruction. The director of an aux- 
iliary school exercises over the classes and teaching force placed under 
his charge the authority of a principal of a regular district school. He 
gives weekly 16 hours of instruction, of which 12 hours must be in the 
class directed by him. He must also regard as his special duty the care 
of the children assigned to the auxiliary school placed under his charge. 

He must give his attention to careful keeping of the personal record 
sheets of the auxiliary school pupils, and take care that at the end of 
each half-year copies of the personal record-sheets and certificates of 
the pupils about to leave, are sent to the Identification Commission, 
and that the director of the Continuation School for mentally defective 
pupils receives at the same time a full statement concerning all the 
boys and girls who are leaving. He has to carefully preserve the rec- 
ords of the children for a period of ten years. 

He receives in addition to the legal salary of the district teacher, 
an official remuneration of 600 M. per year. 

Transfers from the Auxiliary to the Regular School 

One month before the close of the winter semester, the director of 
the auxiliary schools must report to the school inspector, whether there 
are any children who may very probably do the work of the regular 
school. 

The director of the auxiliary school and the principal of the dis- 
trict school in the rooms of which the auxiliary school is carried on, 
will test the children recommended and report their findings to the 
school inspector, for his decision. In this decision the findings of the 
school physician recorded on the personal record sheet are to be consid- 
ered; in case of need, this official is again consulted before the decision 
is made. In making this decision, according to the official decree of 
April 6, 1901, it is to be taken into consideration that when it is a ques- 



APPENDIX 149 

tion of a promotion to the lower grades of the regular school, such pro- 
motion is not to be recommended in the case of children who are already 
over-age. If, therefore, in an individual case, it is not possible to transfer 
the over-age child to the middle grades of the regular school, then the trans- 
fer is to be given up, if under the circumstances there is no probability 
that the child would succeed in completing the middle grades before the 
expiration of the compulsory age limit. Very carefully to be con- 
sidered is the return of those children to the regular school who have 
successfully finished the work of the highest class of the five grade aux- 
iliary school, and still have at their disposal one school year, or who 
would like to attend school in accordance with the wish of the parents 
after the expiration of the compulsory limit. The plan for examining 
these children is the same as that used in examining the children of the 
regular schools who are recommended for promotion to higher classes. 



150 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Appendix B 

PROGRAMS OF WORK IN SPECIAL CLASSES 

SPECIAL SCHOOL NO. 2. PHILADELPHIA. 

Program. First and Second Years. 

Disciplinary Class 



A. M. 

9.00- 9.15. 

9.15-10.00. 
10.00-10.15. 
10.15-10.30. 
10.30-10.45. 
10.45-11.00. 
11.00-11.15. 
11.15-11.27. 
11.27-11.42. 
11.42-11.57. 

P. M. 

11.57-12.17. 
12.17-12.30. 
12.30- 1.05. 

1.05- 1.25. 

1.25- 1.40. 

1.40- 1.55. 

1.55- 2.00. 



Opening Exercises. 

Sloyd and Handwork. 

Number Teaching Period or Table Drill. 

Arithmetic [Practical Work]. 

Study and recite Spelling. 

Recess. 

Write Spelling and Dictation. 

Music. 

Second Year, Reading. First Year, Busy Work. 

Penmanship. 

Drawing, three days. Word Drill, two days. 

Copy Home Work and Correct Spelling. 

Lunch. 

Language. 

First Year, Reading. Second Year, Busy Work. 

Physical Exercises. 

Dismissal. 



SPECIAL SCHOOL NO. 2. PHILADELPHIA. 
Program. Third Year. 
Disciplinary Class 



A. M. 

9.00- 9.15. 
9.15- 9.25. 

9.25- 9.50. 

9.50-10.02. 

10.02-10.15. 

10.15-10.45. 
10.45-11.00. 
11.00-11.45. 



Opening Exercises. 

Dictated Spelling and Dictation. 

Written Rapid Work. 

Written Arithmetic. 

Music. 

Teach new Spelling Words. Sounds. 

New Reading Words. 

Language. 

Recess. 

12 boys, Sloyd. Remaining boys do Chair Caning, Raffia 

Work, Basket Making, Hammocks. 



APPENDIX 



151 



1 1 . 45-1 2 . 00 . Study Reading Lesson so as to reproduce story or facts 

at the beginning of Reading Lesson in the afternoon, 
p. M. 

12 . 00-12 . 15 . Physical Training. Sense Training. 
12 . 15-12 . 30 . Penmanship. 

12 . 30-12 . 35 . Copy Lessons. 

12.35- 1.05. Lunch. 

1.05- 1.25. Reading. 

1.25-1.45. Geography, two days. Drawing, three days. 

1 . 45- 1 . 55 . Teach new Arithmetic. 

1.55- 2.00. Dismissal. 



SPECIAL SCHOOL NO. 2. PHILADELPHIA. 
Program. Third Year. Fourth Year. Fifth Year. 
Disciplinary Class 

A. M. 

9 . 00- 9.15. Opening Exercises. 

9.15- 9.25. Dictated Spelling. (Dictate to 3 classes at one time.) 
9.25-9.30. Rapid Work. All Classes. 

9.30- 9.55. Written Arithmetic. Monday teach new work to 3rd year. 

Tuesday teach new work to 4th year. 
Wednesday teach new work to 5th year, etc. 
During this period mark Spelling papers, Home Work 
books, and return. As boys finish, mark Arithmetic 
papers and return. If time, have work corrected. 
9 . 55-10 . 10 . Physical Exercises. 
10.10-10.30. Geography. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. 

Drawing. Tuesday, Thursday. 
10.30-10.40. Penmanship. 
10 . 40-10 . 45 . Examine Corrected Work. 
10.45-11.00. Recess. 

11.00-11.30. Language. Monday, Reproduction or Picture Story. 
Tuesday, Correct Expression. 
Wednesday, Study of a Poem. 
Thursday, Nature Work. 
Friday, Current Events, Reviews, Biog- 
raphies, 
p. M. 
11.30-12.30. Sloyd and Handwork. 12 boys, Sloyd. Remaining 
boys have Raffia Work, Basketry, Hammock Making, 
etc., in classroom. Individual training in regular les- 
sons during this period given to those boys needing it. 
12 . 30-12 . 35 . Speech Training. 
12.35- 1.05. Lunch. 
1.05- 1.15. Copy Home Work. New Lessons. 
1.15- 1.27. Music. 
1.27- 1.47. Reading. 

1 . 47- 2 . 00 . Physiology or History. 

2 . 00. Dismissal. 



152 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



SPECIAL SCHOOL NO. 2. 
Program. Third Year. 



PHILADELPHIA. 

Fourth Year. 



a. M. 

9 00- 9.15. 

9.15- 9.30. 

9.30- 9.45. 

9.45-10.00. 
10.00-10.25. 
10.25-10.40. 

10.40-10.50. 
10.40-11.10. 

11.10-11.30. 

11.30-11.55. 

11.55-12.00. 
12.00-12.30. 

P. M. 

12.30-12.40. 

12.40-12.52. 

12.52- 1.05. 

1.05- 1.45. 



1.45- 2.00. 
2.00 



Backward Class 

Opening Exercises. 

Written Arithmetic. Oral Arithmetic. 

Oral Arithmetic. Written Arithmetic. 

Physical Exercises. 

Oral and Written Language. 

Recess. (During this recess dictated spelling to boy 

not able to do 3rd year spelling.) 

Spelling and Dictation. 

Reading. Other boys correct Arithmetic papers or Busy 

Work. 

Correct Arithmetic or Busy Work. Reading. 

(Four boys go to Sloyd Room 11.15 to 11.45.) 

Drawing, three days. 

Geography, two days. 

Sense Training. 

Recess. (Superintend lunches.) 

Penmanship. 

Music. 

Copy and Recite Home Work. 

Four boys go to Sloyd Room. Remaining boys have 

Raffia Work, Reed Work, Chair Caning, etc. During 

this period hear two 6th year boys recite History, 

two days, Geography, two days, Physiology, one day; 

also, Grammar and Spelling of boy who cannot write. 

Speech Work. 

Dismissal. 



SPECIAL SCHOOL NO. 2. PHILADELPHIA. 
Program. Second Year. Third Year. Fourth Year. 

Backward Class 

a. m. 
9 . 00- 9.15. Opening Exercises. 
9 . 15- 9 . 25 . Dictated Spelling. All classes. 
9.25-9.35. Copy Home Work. Teach spelling for next day. 
9.35-9.45. Mental Arithmetic. All Classes. 
9 . 45-10 .13. Written Arithmetic . All Classes. 

During this period boys needing individual work in 
Arithmetic are helped. Any remaining time is spent 
in marking Home Work, Spelling, and as the boys finish 
working examples, their papers are marked and any 
errors are corrected by them. 
10.13-10.25. Music. All Classes. 
10.25-10.40. Recess. 
10 . 40-10 . 55 . Fourth Year Reading. 
10 . 55-1 1.10. Third Year Reading. 

(Four boys go to Sloyd Room from 11.25 to 11.45.) 



APPENDIX 



153 



1 1 . 10-1 1 . 25 . Fourth Year Geography. 

1 1 . 25-1 1 . 40 . Penmanship. 
11.40-12.00. Physical Exercises. 

P. M. 

12 00-12 . 10 . Boys Eat Lunch in Room. 

12.10-12.30. Recess. 

12.30-12.45. Drawing. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. 

Third Year Geography. Tuesday, Thursday. 

12 . 45- 1 . 05 . Language. 

1 .05- 1.45. Four boys go to Sloyd room. Remaining boys have 
Basketry, Raffia, Hammock Making, etc., in classroom. 
15 minutes given to Second Year Reading. After this, 
individual work in sense training, or in regular grade 
work is given. 

1 . 45-2 . 00 . Speech Training. 

2 . 00 Dismissal. 



154 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Appendix C 

TEACHER'S REPORT OF A BACKWARD BOY 

A REMARKABLE CASE 
G . 

Address : — 

Father's Name: — C 

Occupation : — Paperhanger. 

Date of Entrance: — Sept., 1908. Age: — 9 years. 

Transferred from: — Arnold School. 

Cause of Transfer: — Backwardness. 

Body: — Undersize in height, but is well nourished. 

Head: — Circumference:— 19 inches. 

Overhead to ears: — 11 inches. 

Face: — Good healthy color, dark eyes and hair, oddly shaped mouth. 

Ears: — Normal hearing. 

Nasal Pharynx: — Enlarged tonsils. Adenoids. Has had two operations 
for adenoids. 

Eyes: — Very nearsighted. Wears glasses. Can see very little without 
them. 

Fixation : — Poor. 

Visualization : — Good . 

Expression : — Very dull and apathetic at first, but before many weeks 
was noticeably brighter. 

Hands: — There was a great lack of muscular co-ordination. He could 
do very little handwork at first, but is now making an Indian 
basket and has made several Sloyd models. 

Nerve Signs:— Had chorea. There is still a little nervous twitching 
of the face at times. 

Physical Health and Nutrition: — He had a normal birth, but when 
two months old had marasmus. For two years he required constant 
care and nursing. He was scrofulous. The family physician says 
that there is a strong tubercular tendency. When quite young 
he had convulsions and would scream until exhausted. An aunt 
was subject to convulsions similar to these and died in one of them. 
As he grew older he grew stronger, but he has always been 
delicate. Has had frequent attacks of acute bronchitis, also ton- 
silitis. The tonsils were very much enlarged and there were ade- 
noids. Tonsils were removed and there have been two operations 
for adenoids, and it seems as though a third operation will be 
necessary. 

He had measles several years ago, which caused serious eye 
trouble. He is so near-sighted that he "cannot see to put on or 
take off" his shoes without his glasses. 

He had almost a double row of teeth, which were very irregular 
and decayed quickly. This caused indigestion. He has been in 



APPENDIX 155 



the care of a dentist for about two years, who has removed some 
teeth and is straightening others. 

This last year (1908-1909) his health has been better than ever 
before, but he has had frequent severe colds in his head. 

The mother said that their physician told her that G 

was feeble-minded, and at times, even yet, she notices that he has 
"moody spells," and while in one of them shows a strange dislike 
for his father, who is always kind and good to him. At other times 
he seems to care for his father, and at school frequently says, " My 
father says" etc. He has shown no signs of these spells in school, 
but when he has a cold or is not feeling well, he is more than 
ordinarily dull. 
School Report: — Entered Special No. 2., Sept. 1908, from the Arnold 
School, at the age of 9 years. He started to school at 6 years of 
age and had never been promoted from the First Grade. 

During the summer of 1908, he was taken to Dr. Witmer's 
School for Backward Children at the University of Pennsylvania. 
Dr. Witmer examined him and pronounced him an "idio-imbecile," 
and told the mother that the boy was feeble-minded. 

At this time he would sit in the class with open mouth and a 
vacant expression on his face, taking no interest in anything. He 
frequently had violent crying spells. 

At Dr. Witmer's advice, the adenoids and tonsils were removed, 
eyes examined and fitted with glasses, and he was placed under the 
care of a dentist. He was also put on a diet. This caused him to 
lose several weeks of the class instruction in Dr. Witmer's school, 
which at that time was in the care of our Principal, Miss Calwell. 
On his return to school from the hospital a decided change was seen. 
He took more interest in things, and when the school closed, he had 
learned a few words and a few of the combinations of numbers 
to ten. 

There was a great lack of muscular co-ordination which was 
plainly shown in all the handwork, but more especially in the 
Sloyd work. 

At the close of the summer school, Dr. Witmer said that he 

had come to the conclusion that G was not feeble-minded, 

but was backward from physical defects, and was a case for a 
Special School, where, under proper care and training, he ought to 
be able to do school work. 

He was sent to Special No. 2. the following September, and 
has required a great deal of individual care and training. 

March, 1909: — G is interested in everything in the school. The 

ordinary things about which a child of 5 or 6 years of age usually 
asks numerous questions, he has been noticing the last few months, 
and they have been the subjects of many questions from him. 
The beginning of the term he would sit idly waiting to be told to 
do his work, but now he is always busy. 

In arithmetic he has learned all the combinations from 1 to 
10, and is now working on those from 10 to 20, and can read and 
write to 100 with few mistakes— makes and works small number 
"stories" in addition and subtraction. 

Visualization in reading is good. The sight words he learns 
easily and remembers them very well. He is good at "sounding" 



156 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

the new words too, which, no doubt, is due to his daily drill in 
speech training. There is a little peculiarity in the way he "sounds' 
a word the first time, as, for example, in the word scour — Instead 
of sounding the sc and then our, he will say, "our, cour, scour." 
At first I would insist on his "sounding" it the proper or usual 
way, but he would become confused and had great difficulty in 
getting the correct pronunciation. So I have allowed him to use 
his own method, which rarely fails him. 

The speech training also helps him in spelling, but he can only 
learn from three to five words a day and no more. 

Penmanship is poor but plain, and he has a fair amount of 
speed. 

In language, he could not remember a story to reproduce it 
orally at first, but now he not only tells it well, but also does fairly 
well at writing it. This he is not required to do, but he asked to 
do it for "busy" work. 

In five months he learned 148 words, which he knew by sight, 
could spell, and use in sentences and in making little number stories. 

The speech defect, which was very decided, is gradually 
disappearing under the course in speech training. The daily 
drill on sounds and in articulation, and also the straightening of 
the teeth, have been very beneficial. 

In the manual work there is improvement also. He has made 
several models in Sloyd, and has an Indian basket nearly completed, 
which is decidedly the best handwork that he has ever done. 

Feb., 1910: — At the February promotions G was promoted to 

regular high 2nd year work, remaining under the same teacher. 
In all the work, he is doing well. He was under the care of a sub- 
stitute teacher for several months, who, necessarily, could not 
carry on the work with him as planned by the regular teacher, so 
he probably did not make the usual progress for that time. He is 
very anxious to get along in his work and was so pleased with his 
promotion that he wanted to learn long division with the 3rd year 
class. As he knew most of the multiplication tables, and was 
able to take up the extra work, I taught him along with the other 
boys and now he is able to work examples with two figures in the 
divisor and not more than three figures in the quotient. He had 
very little difficulty in learning this, which sometimes is rather 
difficult for normal children. 

April, 1910: — G has worked along with the other boys in regular 

class work for several months. He has very little individual atten- 
tion any more and gets along well in all his work. For some time 
now he has had ten words in his daily spelling lesson and soon will 
be able to take fifteen. 

The Principal was discussing the advisability of sending him 
back to the regular school in September, 1910. 

There is much reason to believe that in the coming years of 
his school life, if his health permits, he will be able to recover much 
of the time lost by the retardation of development caused by phy- 
sical defects. 

By the removal of these physical obstructions at the age of 
9 years, his intelligence was awakened, and, at 9 years he had to 
begin the school work of a child of 6 years of age. In the last two 
years G has done the work of a child from 6 to 9 years, but 



APPENDIX 157 

while in school work he is several years behind his grade, yet his 
general intelligence is nearly that of a normal boy of his age. At 
present, his condition seems to be that of a normal child, and he 
ought to be able to make the same rate of progress as is expected 
from the average normal boy. 

General Remarks: — G 's father is a graduate of Girard College. 

Both parents are much interested in the boy's welfare and have 
made great sacrifices to give him proper care and attention and 

to secure medical treatment for him. G is the eldest of three 

children. His sister also has adenoids, but G is the only 

abnormal child. 

The parents were very much grieved over their boy's condi- 
tion and had done all they could to help him but to no avail. 
In the spring of 1908, the mother, at a "mother's meeting" at the 
Glenwood school, heard Dr. Witmer of the University of Penn- 
sylvania deliver a lecture in which he spoke of the care that back- 
ward children should receive. She immediately had the father 
take G to Dr. Witmer, with the results mentioned above. 

The parents are delighted with the progress he has made and 
fully appreciate the efforts put forth in his behalf. 

When he first come to our school he did not take much notice 
of anything, but gradually things would attract his attention, and 
he never tired of asking questions and making remarks about them, 
some of which were very original. 

G is gentle and quiet in manner and gets along well with 

the other boys. He is obedient and has strong affections. 

This has been a most interesting case, as an opportunity has 
been given to watch the awakening and development of a mind 
that was almost a blank. 

Jessie G. Myers, Teacher. 



158 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Appendix D 

AN INTERESTING CASE OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 

Roy . 

Address : — 

Father's Name: — John. 

Occupation : — Clergyman. 



Date of Entrance: — December 1908. Age: — 16 years. 

Body: — Nearly normal development of trunk and upper limbs. The 
lower limbs are normal from hip to knee, but below the knee they 
are undersize and not well developed, probably from disuse. 

Face: — Features well proportioned and general expression fairly in- 
telligent. 

Ears: — Normal. 

Eyes : — Normal. 

Nasal Pharynx:— Adenoids. Probably slight paralysis of upper 
part of throat. 

Physical Health and Nutrition: — A case of congenital paralysis, 
but the parents being unused to children, (this being their first 
child) did not realize at first that anything was wrong. As he 
grew older they gradually noticed that he was not like other 
children, and finally found that he could not walk. A number of 
physicians were consulted and they pronounced it a case of " spastic 
paralysis" with no hope of recovery. 

A nurse was secured for him who gave him different kinds of 
treatments, and devoted much of her time to trying to teach him 
to walk. One time, she succeeded in having him walk across the 
room once, but this never happened again. 

He can stand upright, but seems unable to balance himself 
and is very nervous, fearing that he will fall. He has learned to 
walk on his knees and can get around quite well, even being able 
to go up and down stairs by himself. 

His general health is good, and his body is well nourished. 
It seems that the motor area is the only part of the brain that 
is affected, as he seems to be of nearly normal mentality for a boy 
of his age. 

School Report: — Not being able to walk, Roy was not sent to any 
school, but tutors were employed to educate him at home. As he 
grew older, he craved the companionship of other boys so his 
father sent him to a boarding school. 

Children in this condition, physically, are usually more or less 
feeble-minded, and such was the case in this boarding school. As 
Roy's mentality is nearly normal, under those conditions, his 
boarding school life proved a failure. 

In the autumn of 1908, Dr. H was lecturing in Phila- 
delphia, at this time they lived in C , Mass. While here he 

visited Temple University to see if it would be a suitable school for 
Roy. Dean McKinley of the University would not take him but 

sent Dr. H to see the Principal of Special School No. 2. Dr. 

H was favorably impressed with the school and in December. 



APPENDIX 



159 



1908, brought his family to Philadelphia and located near the school 
where Roy was sent at once. 

In all oral work, Roy was well advanced. He could spell 
well, had studied history and geography, was fond of reading, 
but on account of a speech defect, caused probably by some 
paralysis of the throat, had great difficulty in reading aloud. He 
could not write at all, not being able to use his hands. Immediately, 
upon entering school, exercises to strengthen the muscles of his 
legs were given him and he was urged to walk up the room between 
the forms, supporting himself by the desks. This was very great 
exertion, but this practice is kept up daily. 

He had never been able to use a pen or pencil at all, indeed it 
seemed almost impossible to bring about the proper co-ordination 
of muscles necessary to bring the pencil to the paper. Heavy 
manila paper and a thick heavy pencil were given to him and, after 
repeated effort, he succeeded in learning to make all the figures — 
then he began the letters, singly at first, and then in words. 

Every day he is given about an hour's work in the Sloyd room. 
The Sloyd teacher has taken great interest in him, with remarkable 
results. At first he worked standing on his knees, then sitting on 
a stool, but finally he came to use an iron frame-work which held 
him upright on his feet, supporting him around the waist. He is 
strapped to this but has free use of his arms in an almost natural 
standing position at the work bench. He first learned to use the 
plane, then to bore holes, hammer nails and to use a saw. The 
Sloyd teacher also put up a heavy rope from one end of the room 
to the other and had Roy walk the length of the room. The rope 
hung very loosely, so that while it would save him from falling, 
yet he would have to depend upon his own efforts to some extent 
to keep his balance. Finally he could walk several yards without 
any support. 
May 1, 1909: — Roy now can write words and has written a few short 
sentences, and works his Arithmetic lesson on paper every day. 

He had the adenoids removed a few weeks ago. He reads a- 
loud with much less difficulty. This, no doubt, is due to the daily 
drill in articulation and regular speech training. 

He is very anxious to improve and in school willingly and 
cheerfully does all that is required of him, but his father says that 
at home he will not practise writing or walking unless urged to do 
so. His father seems to think he lacks will power and is decidedly 
weak in that respect, but I do not think his school work shows 
that. He certainly must have considerable will power to do the 
things he does. 
May 4, 1909: — Roy came to school to-day and very joyfully told us that 
he had walked across his room six times. He tried to show that 
he could do it again at school but while he failed to walk quite that 
distance, yet he proved that he could walk alone. 

Development of the muscles of the lower part of the leg by 
suitable exercises, and confidence in his own power will, in time, 
probably enable him to walk enough to get around the house and 
will make him less dependent on others. 

He is still very much pleased with the Sloyd work, and has 
made ten articles, among which are a boat, a small wheel-barrow 
and a tabouret. 



160 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

June, 1909: — Left for summer home in New Hampshire. 

Sept. 22, 1909: — Received card stating that Roy would return to school 

in October. 
Oct. 8, 1909: — Returned to Special No. 2. to-day. Noticeable im- 
provement in speech. His regular work has not suffered from the 
vacation from school. 
Nov., 1910: — Marked improvement in all work. Is doing regular 6th 

year history and geography. 
April, 1910: — Improvement continues. Has written a grammar 
lesson. Has regular 6th year grammar. Is very much interested 
in his history in the study of the Civil War. Studies lesson from 
large history at home. Has never been able to make any hand- 
work articles, except the Sloyd, until this week. He has just 
completed a 6-inch reed mat. 

He says that every day he walks from one end of the second 
floor to the other. 

Has had five boils lately. Just lost three days from school 
on account of one which was on the right leg above the knee. 
This has caused him to lose some of the exercise in walking. 

Works arithmetic lessons on paper every day, also has some 
written work in language, or some other written lesson daily. 
General Remarks: — Roy's father is a Congregational minister from 
New England. He has quite a bright, interesting family of four 
children, of which Roy is the only abnormal one. Nothing has 
been spared to make Roy's condition better. 

He has an attendant who brings him to school in a rolling 
chair. I think, perhaps, it would be better for Roy not to have 
so much attention, as he would then be compelled to use his arms 
and hands more, and do more for himself. 

He seems to be of a cheerful disposition, but he has told me 
that he often gets discouraged and wonders why he could not be 
as other boys. 

He seems to fear, too, that people will think that he is feeble- 
minded. 

He wears wooden-soled shoes with long leather leggings, 
heavily padded, which are a hindrance to him when he walks on 
his feet, but which are a protection when he walks on his knees. 

I think he should not wear them at all, and not be allowed to 
walk at all except on his feet. 

He is just a little lazy and inclined to give up too soon, but is 
trying to overcome this. 

He has enjoyed being in school with other boys, and is always 
delighted when he can enter a class and does not require individual 
work. He is very much afraid of taking the "lion's share" of the 
teacher's time. He is exceedingly polite and well bred, and is 
kind and thoughtful. 

When he first came to our school one of the boys had to "feed" 
him at lunch time. Now he can "feed" himself, but "makes 
crumbs" as he says, but he is so glad that he can brush them 
up himself. This he always will do and will not allow anyone to 
do it for him. 

This has been one of the most interesting cases that we have 
had. 

Jessie G. Myers, Teacher. 



APPENDIX 161 



Appendix E 
PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
BACKWARD CHILDREN INVESTIGATION 
RECORD BLANK 

NAME 

SCHOOL 

DIST. NO GRADE 

DATE of BIRTH EXAMINED 

MENTAL DEVELOPMENT YRS 

Ill 

1 Nose, eyes, mouth. 

2 It rains. I am hungry. 

3 Repeat 7, 2. 

4 Picture (enumerates). 

5 Name. 

IV 

1 Boy or Girl. 

2 Key, knife, penny. 

3 Repeat 7, 4, 8. 

4 Lines. 



1 3 and 12 grams. 6 and 15 grams. 

2 Square. (Draw on back of blank.) 

3 Patience. 

4 Counting four pennies. 

VI 

1 R. Hand. L. Ear. 

2 We get up in the morning; after breakfast we work; at night we go 

to bed. 

3 Prettier? 1 & 2. 4 & 3. 5 & 6. 

4 Fork Horse. 
Table Mama. 
Chair 

5 Key on chair: shut door: bring box. 

6 How old? 

7 Morning or afternoon? 

VII 

1 Lacks eyes, nose, mouth, arms. 

2 Fingers R. Hand? L. Hand? Both? 

3 Write from copy. (On back of blank.) 

4 Copy diamond. (On back of blank.) 

5 Repeat 4, 7, 3, 9, 5. 

6 Describes picture. 

7 Counts 13 pennies. 

8 Penny, nickel, dime, quarter. 

VIII 

1 Memories. Time of reading. 

2 Counting stamps. 111222. 



162 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

3 Red, blue, green, yellow. Time. 

4 20-1. Time. 

5 Dictation. (Write on back of blank.) 

6 Butterfly Wood Paper 
Fly Glass Cloth 

IX 

1 Date. 

2 Days M. T. W. T. F. S. S. Time. 

3 25c. 9c. 

4 Definitions. (See VI 4.) 

5 6 memories. (VIII 1.) 

6 Arrange weights. 1. 2. 3. Time 

X 

1 Month J. F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S. O. N. D. Time. 

2 Money 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 1, 2, 5, 10. 

3 Sentence, Phila., Money, River. 

4 1. 1 
2. 2 
3 3 

4 
5 
XI 

1 a. Unfortunate painter. d. R. R. accident. 

b. Three brothers. e. Suicide. 

c. Locked in the quiet. 
Time. 

2 Sentence Phila., Money, River. (X. 3.) 

3 60 words in three minutes, (over.) 

4 Charity, Justice, Goodness. 

5 a. We started at a good hour for the park. 

b. I have asked my teacher to correct my exercise. 

c. A good dog defends his master courageously. 

XII 

1 Repeat 296437 5. 928516 4. 169584 7. 

2 Rhymes, day, spring, mill. 

3 Repeat. "Children, it is necessary to work very hard for a living. 
You must go every morning to your school." 

"The other day I saw in the street, a pretty, young dog. Little 

Maurice has got spots on his new apron!" 

"Ernest is praised very often for his good conduct." "I bought at 

the store a beautiful doll for my little sister." 

"There occurred on that night a frightful tempest with lightning. 

My comrade has taken cold. He has fever and coughs very much. ' ' 

4 Problems: (a) Frightened at night. 

(b) Neighbor's visitors. 

XIII 

1 Cutting paper. (Draw on back of blank.) 

2 Reversed triangle. (Draw on back of blank.) 

3 Pleasure and honor. Poverty and misery. 
Evolution and revolution. Pride and pretension. 
Event and advent. 



APPENDIX 163 



Appendix F 

TESTS USED IN PHILADELPHIA INVESTIGATION 

"A" Test. — Pupil is to cross out all the A's. 
GAAQYEMPAZNTIBXGAIMRUSAWZAZWXAMXBDXAJZ 
ECNABAHGDVSVFTCLAYKUKCWAFRWHTQYAFAAAOH 
UOLJCCAKSZAUAFERFAWAFZAWXBAAAVHAMBATAD 
KVSTVNAPLILAOXYSJUOVYIVPAAPSDNLKRQAAOJLE 
AKNAAPLPAAAHYOAEKLNVFARJAEHNPWIBAYAQRK 
UPDSHAAQGGHTAMZAQGMTPNURQNXIJEOWYCREJD 
TXWAMQEAKHAOPXZWCAIRBRZNSOQAQLMDGUSGB 
FUOFAAKYFGTMBLYZIJAAVAUAACXDTVDACJSIUFMO 
SNZMWAAAWHACAXHXQAXTDPUTYGSKGRKVLGKIM 
JACINEVBGAOFHARPVEJCTQZAPJLEIQWNAHRBUIAS 
YRQAQEAXJUDFOIMWZSAUCGVAOABMAYDYAAZJDAL 
OYKFIUDBHTAGDAACDIXAMRPAGQZTAACVAOWLYX 
WABBTHJJANEEFAAMEAACBSVSKALLPHANRNPKAZF 

Recognition op Words 



3* 


4* 


5* 


is 


bird 


could 


man 


vest 


country 


see 


give 


field 


you 


read 


butterfly 


boy 


dear 


milkman 


girl 


letter 


become 


the 


want 


around 


big 


love 


scold 


ball 


home 


leave 


like 


her 


yellow 



164 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



WORD TESTS. 



Memory op Related Words. 



Memory of Unrelated Words. 



A 


B 


School 


Kitchen 


teacher 


stove 


book 


fire 


desk 


wood 


pen 


coal 


read 


hot 


write 


kettle 


add 


boil 


spell 


water 


word 


tea 



A 

Book 

tree 

door 

pillow 

letter 

button 

nose 



fish 
plant 



B 

Long 

run 

dress 

knife 

friend 

break 

green 

arm 

toy 

room 



Associated Ideas. 



Tell something that is 



high 


empty 


soft 


narrow 


cold 


loose 


new 


bitter 


smooth 


level 


red 


heavy 


round 


woolen 


clean 


bright 


bent 


wet 


deep 


good 



8* 



Tell something 
opposite of 
high 
light 
noisy 
hard 
kind 
old 
small 
plain 
cross 
stout 

•See Personal Record Sheet for other tests, p. 166. 



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168 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Appendix hi 
GODDARD'S RECORD BLANK FOR REVISED BINET TESTS 

EXAMINED MENTAL AGE 

NAME BORN ADMITTED 

Ill 

1 Points to nose, eyes, mouth. 

2 Repeats "It rains. I am hungry." 

3 Repeats 7, 2. 

4 Sees in Picture 1. 5. 

2. 6. 

3. 7. 

4. 8. 

5 Knows name. 

IV 

1 Knows sex, boy or girl, (girl or boy.) 

2 Recognizes key, knife, penny. 

3 Repeats 7, 4, 8. 

4 Conpares lines. 

V 

1 Compares 3 and 12 grams. 6 and 15 grams. 

2 Copies square. (Draw on back of this sheet.) 

3 Repeats, "His name is John. He is a very good boy." 

4 Counts four pennies. 

5 "Patience." 

VI 

1 Morning or afternoon, (afternoon or morning.) 

2 Defines fork horse 

table mama 

chair 

3 Puts key on chair; shuts door; brings box. 

4 Shows R. Hand. L. Ear. 

5 Chooses prettier? 1 & 2. 4 & 3. 5 & 6. 

VII 

1 Counts 13 pennies. 

2 Describes Pictures. (See III 4.) 

3 Sees picture lacks eyes, nose, mouth, arms. 

4 Can copy diamond. (On back of this sheet.) 

5 Recognizes red, blue, green, yellow. (Time 6".) 



169 

APPENDIX iu ^ 

VIII 

1 c " (Th !fW 2* gs 

4 Counts stamps. 111222. (Time 10 .) 

5 Repeats 4, 7 , 3, 9, 5. 

IX 

1 Makes change 20c— 4c. 

2 Definitions (See VI 2.) 

I Mo°nIhs dat j e : F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S.. O. N D. 0*- ^> 
5 Arranges weights. (2 correct; V mm. each.) 1. 2. 3. 

1 Money lc. 5c. 10c. 25c. 50c. $1. S2. $5 $10. 

4 ^PS 20 "' (2nd lri=) e20 " ) 

( ?. OU J ? } ;^ a (Late to school) 

t sss^s™**) • fans** 

c. (Broken somethmg) c. (F°;^pSn) 

e. (Actions vs. words) 
5 Sent ence: Philadelphia, Money, River. (Time 1') 

XI 

1 Sees absurdity. (3 out of 5) (Time 20 

a. Unfortunate painter. d. K. K. accioem. 

b. Three brothers. e. Suicide. 

c. Locked in room. „ v ,. ^ 

2 Sentence: Philadelphia, Money Rlv f R pp ^e X 50 

3 Gives sixty words in three minutes. (Record on bade; 

4 Rhymes (Time l'each) (3 Rhymes with each word) 

day 
5 PutsScted sentences together. (Time 1' each) 



b. 



XII 

1 Repeats 2, 9, 6, 4, 3, 7, 5. 9,2,8,5,1,6,4. 1,3,9,5,8,4,7. 

2 Defines Charity 

Justice 

3 Repeat^-fSw in the street a pretty little dog. He had curly 

brown hair, short legs and a long tail. ,456 
t S^^Hing^fromlimb. 2 (b) Neighbor's visitors. _ 



170 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

XV 

1 Interprets picture. 

2 Change clock hands. 6.20 — 2.56 — 

3 Code. COME QUICKLY. 

4 Opposites. 

1 good 3 quick 5 big 7 white 9 happy 

2 outside 4 tall 6 loud 8 light 10 false 

ADULT 

1 Cutting paper. 

2 Reversed triangle. 

3 Gives differences of abstract words. 

4 Difference between president of a republic and a king. 

5 Gives sense of a selection read. 



APPENDIX 



171 



3 a 






8. H 



C -i- rt 




3 «"a 

fe ° 2 2 

O o-H 

W 3 .or 
W ° to 

BS a 2 — 

< 6 » 

J* 2 ► 

-S3 

— o 



172 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Appendix H, 2 

Distribution curves showing variations from normal of 1,547 chil- 
dren tested by the Binet-Simon scale (solid line) and 14,762 children in 
28 cities rated by their progress through seven grades (dotted line). 
Curves based on relative figures showing distribution of 1,000 cases of 
each kind. 




From Dr. Leonard P. Ayrea's "The Binet-Simon Measuring Scale for Intelligence 
Some Criticisms and Suggestions." Bulletin No. 107, Department of Child Hygiene, 
Russell Sage Foundation, New York. 



APPENDIX 173 



Appendix I. 

FORMS USED IN SPECIAL SCHOOLS OF 
NEW YORK CITY 

Form A 

OBSERVATIONS ON CHILD 

Proposed for an Ungraded Class 

P. S Borough 

Name Address 

Age Grade Nationality F M 

Yre. in U. S. Home Conditions 

Health Record : Nutrition Bone Dis Enl. Gl 

Teeth Throat Nose Vision R L 

Hearing R L Nervous Disease 

School Record: Kn'dg terms 1A terms IB terms 

2A terms 2B terms 3A terms 3B terms 

Sp'c'l terms. School Att Cause of Irreg 

Absence in last two terms Attention Memory 

Oral Exp Hand Work Phys. Tr Number 

Reading Writing Sp. Tastes 

Disposition Behavior Habits 

Peculiarities 



Other Information 

19. 



Principal. 



174 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Form F 

NEW YORK CITY 

SPECIAL MEDICAL EXAMINATION 

P. S Borough 

19. 

Name 

1. General Condition 

A. Anatomical 

Cranium 

Facial Asymmetry 

Palate 

Teeth 

Tongue Lips 

Eyes 

Ears 

Limbs 

Skin 

Body in General 

B. Physiological 

1. Motor Function 

Tics Tremors 

Epilepsy Nystagmus 

Promptness Co-ordination 

Prehension R L Gait 

Speech Fatigue 

2. Sensory Function 

EyesR L Ears R L 

3. Condition of Heart Pulse 

C. Physical 

Balance Proportion Moral Sense 

Attention Memory Will 

Peculiarities 

D. Development — Att. Diseases 

E. Family History: Births Miscar Deaths 

Cause of Diseases F M 



Medical Examiner. 
Recommendation 



Inspector Ungraded Classes. 



APPENDIX 175 

Form Q 

NEW YORK CITY 

MEDICAL RE-EXAMINATION 



P. S Borough 

191. 



Name. 



General Condition 

Nutrition 

1. Motor Function 

Tics 

Tremors 

Epilepsy 

Nystagmus 

Promptness 

Co-ordination 

Prehension, R L . 

Gait 

Speech 

2. Sensory Function 

Vision, R L 

Hearing, R L 

3. Condition of Heart 

Pulse 

Throat 



Remarks. 



Medical Examiner. 



176 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Form H 

NEW YORK CITY 

PEDAGOGICAL RECORD 



P. S Borough. 



19. 



19 



Name. 



Sept. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Deo. Mar. June 
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 



Sense Training 


















Taste 


















Smell 


















Touch 


















Sight 


















Hearing 


















Physical Train, (imitation) 


















" " (command) 


















Writing 


















Industrial Training 


















Language (oral) 


















" (written) 


















Reading 


















Arithmetic 


















Nature Study 


















Personal Habits 


















Self Control 


















Effort 


















Gen'l Information 


















Power of Attention 



















APPENDIX 
(Form H— Continued] 



177 



Power of Memory 


















Judgment 


















Gen'l Health 


















Fatigue 


















Attendance 




































































Teacher 



178 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Appendix J 

FORMS USED IN FRENCH SCHOOLS 

AUXILIARY CLASS— MEDICAL CARD 

Street 

Name of Pupil. 

Date and Place of Birth. 

Dates of Examinations 

Height ! . 

Weight 

Vision 

Hearing 

Teeth 

Sickness of different kinds and especially of the nervous system: 



Observations on general condition 

(Information by the teacher from observations of certain troubles 
which give cause for suspicion.) 
Additional Remarks. 

Date 

(Yellow card) Doctor 

AUXILIARY CLASS— CARD OF ADMISSION 

Street 

Name of Pupil 

Date of Birth 

Schools attended Grades 



Number of absences 

*Examination 

1. Pedagogical 

Reading Retarded years 

Arithmetic Retarded years 

Spelling Retarded years 

Retardation in school work 

2. Psychological 

Failed on the tests of the year 

Mental retardation 

Date 



(Red Card) Examiners. 

* See chapter on Vaney-Binet Tests of Instruction. 



APPENDIX 



179 



Appendix K 

FLOOR PLANS OF SPECIAL OR AUXILIARY SCHOOL BUILD- 

INQS IN LONDON, ENGLAND 




180 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Appendix L 

RECOMMENDATIONS OF NEW JERSEY COMMITTEE ON 
PROVISION FOR THE FEEBLE=MINDED AND EPILEPTIC* 

(a) Medical inspection of school children is now required in 
every school district. (Chap. 92 of laws 1909.) The medical inspec- 
tion should go farther than merely to detect contagion, sanitary condi- 
tions, etc. Eye, ear, nose, throat and teeth should be carefully exam- 
ined and all remediable conditions corrected. 

(b) The primary children of every school district should be 
examined by the Binet Measuring Scale of Intelligence or something 
equally effective, and as soon as possible a method should be adopted 
which shall be uniform throughout the State. 

(c) In every school district in which there are ten or more children 
who are four or more years behind grade there should be established 
special classes. (This has been accomplished, Chapter 234, laws of 
1911.) 

(d) Backward and feeble-minded children should be placed in 
such special classes as long as it is safe to keep them in their homes, 
and the training should be largely industrial and manual. This will 
relieve the State and the community of a great deal of the expense 
of their maintenance. 

(e) All feeble-minded children of every grade (including morons, 
imbeciles and idiots) who cannot properly be kept in their homes and 
sent to the special classes should be sent to the Training School at 
Vineland, where in so far as possible they should be trained for the 
lives they will live when they become men and women in years. 

(f) All feeble-minded women of every grade (including morons, 
imbeciles and idiots) should be provided for at the State Institution 
for Feeble-Minded Women, where they shall find proper care and be 
given such profitable occupations as they are able to follow, such as 
small fruit and poultry raising, gardening and floriculture in summer, 
and needlework of various kinds, the weaving of stockings, underwear, 
carpets and rugs in winter; supplying not only their own needs, but 
also those of other wards of the State. 

(g) All feeble-minded men of every grade (including morons, 
imbeciles and idiots) should be provided for at the State Village at 
Skillman, where they shall have proper care and be given such profit- 
able occupations as they are able to follow, such as farming and even 
manufacturing on a small scale. 

(h) All of the epileptics of every age and grade should be cared 
for at the State Village at Skillman, where there should be every 
facility for their scientific study, care, treatment and occupation. 

(i) The scientific departments at the State Institution for Women 
and the Epileptic Village should have every encouragement, for the 
time for mere custody is past. This is the day of preventive measures, 
and nowhere is there such an opportunity to study means of prevention 
as in the institutions themselves. 



These recommendations embody the most progressive ideas along 
the line of provision for the feeble-minded and epileptic. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Part One 

GRADING AND SPECIAL PLANS 

Adams, Jessie B. The Working Girl from the Elementary Schools in 
New York, Charities and Corrections, Vol. 19. Oct.-Apr., pp. 
1617 to 1623. New York, 1907-8. 

A study of 78 girls who left school before completing the 
elementary grades. 

Anschutz, C. Die 25 Jahrfeier des Sprachheil-Unterrichts in den 
offentlichen Schulen. Zeitschrift fur Kinderforschung, Vol. 15, 
pp. 114-119. 1908-9. 

Out of 8,000 pupils, 63 stutterers and 23 stammerers were 
found. 

Ayres, L. P. Laggards in Our Schools, Charities Publication Com- 
mittee, New York, 1909. 236 pages. 

Treats retardation and elimination of pupils in the public 
schools. 

Bagley, W. C. Classroom Management. New York, 1907. 322 
pages. See especially Chapter Fourteen. "The Batavia Sys- 
tem of Class-Individual Instruction. 

Barnes, Earl. The Public School and the Special Child. N. E. A. 
Proceedings, 1908. pp., 1118-1123. 

Barnes, Harold. The Group System of Teaching. Unpublished 
study. 

Bettinger, M. C. Discussion of Ungraded Classes, in Report of the 
Los Angeles Public Schools, 1906-7. p. 63. 

Brahn, Max. Die Trennung der Schuler nach ihren Leistungs- 
fahigkeit. Zeitschrift filr Schulgesundheitspflege, No. 7 und 8, 
pp. 385-398, Hamburg, 1897. 

Burk, C. F. Promotion of Bright and Slow Children. Educational 
Review, Vol. 19, pp. 296-302. 1898-99. 

Explains method of grading used in Santa Barbara, Cal. 

Burnham, W. H. The Group as a Stimulus to Mental Activity. 
Science, N. S., Vol. 31, No. 803, May 20, 1910. pp. 761-767. 
A valuable article, showing the value of class work. 

Burt, George F. The Batavia Method in Latin and Greek. Educa- 
tional Work, Vol. 1, pp. 61-65. 

Call, Arthur D. Dr. Dawson's Inductive Study of Children. Psy- 
chological Clinic. May, 1912. pp. 61-68. 

Gives an interesting account of the valuable work in examin- 
ing children, done by Dr. G. E. Dawson in the Henry Barnard 
School District of Hartford, Connecticut. 



184 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Chase, Lydia Gardner. Public School Classes for Mentally Deficient 
Children. Charities and Corrections, 1904, pp. 390-401. 

Historical account of the development of public school classes 
for the mentally deficient in the United States and in foreign 
countries. 

Class-Individual Instruction, or the Batavia System. The magazine 
Educational Work, Vols. 1 and 2. 1906. Published by Edu- 
cational Work Co., Worcester, Mass.; devoted to expositions 
of Class-Individual Instruction. It contains many articles by 
exponents of the plan. 

Collar & Crook. School Management and Methods of Instruction, 
Macmillan & Co., 1905. 336 pages. 
Advocates yearly promotions, p. 37. 

Crampton, C. Ward. The Influence of Physiological Age on Scholar- 
ship. Psychological Clinic, June, 1907. pp. 115-121. See also 
Pedagogical Seminary, June, 1908. 

Deuchler. Uber das Mannheimer Schulsystem. Zeitschrift fur Pdda- 
gogische Psychologic, Pathologie und Hygiene. Vol. 10, No. 6. 
Leipzig, 1908-9. pp. 384-421. 

Contains an excellent account of the Mannheim System. 

Dewey, John. The School and Social Progress (in his School and 
Society). University of Chicago, pp. 15-40. 

"Argument for reorganization of our school system, for the 
development of individually strong members of society. " 

Dressler, Henrich. Die geschichtliche Entwicklung der Kinder- 
sprachforschung. Die Deutsche Schule. Vol. 5, pp. 760-771. 
Leipzig, 1905. 

Edson, Andrew W. Group Teaching in the Elementary Grades, 
(in Report of Proceedings of 63d Annual Meeting, New York 
State Teachers Association). Education Department Bulletin, 
No. 457, pp. 307-311. 

Contains suggestive programs for carrying out work. 

The Education in Public Schools of the Deaf, Cripples and Men- 
tal Defectives. Education, Vol. 28, p. 351-55. Boston, 1908. 

Special Plans for the Promotion of Backward Pupils. Kinder- 
garten Magazine, Vol. 19, 1906-7. pp. 397-403. 

Elson, W. H. Intermediate Industrial Schools in Bulletin No. 10. 
National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, pp. 
172-179. Published by National Society for the Promotion of 
Industrial Education, New York City. 

Article contains statistics as to the amount of retardation and 
elimination in the schools of Cleveland, O., also an account of 
the school established in that city to meet the needs of over-age 
boys and girls. 

Enderlin, M. Die Neuorganisation der Volksschule in Mannheim, 
Die Deutsche Schule. Vol. 8, pp. 24-37. Leipzig und Berlin, 
1904. See also Vol. 8, pp. 86-100. 

Zur Mannheimer Schulreform. Die Deutsche Schule. Vol. 9, 

pp. 137-149. Leipzig and Berlin, 1905. Concluded in Vol. 9, 
pp. 201-215. 

Findlay, J. J. Principles of Class Teaching, Macmillan, London, 1902. 

Garber, John P. A Rational System of Classification and Promotion 
in Elementary Schools. Education, Vol. 27, pp. 288-302. Bos- 
ton, 1907. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 185 

Gates, Charles I. Individual Instruction in History and Geography. 
Educational Work, Vol. 1, pp. 61-65. 
George, Anne E. The First Montessori School in America. Mc- 
Clure's, June, 1912. pp. 177-187. 

Article by Miss George, the translator of Dr. Montessori's 
book, The Montessori Methods. It shows plainly that the 
Montessori methods must be modified to meet the needs of 
American children. 
Gesell, Beatrice C. and Arnold. The Montessori Kindergarten, 
Appendix to The Normal Child and Primary Education, pp. 323- 
340. 

A critique of the pedagogical aspects of the Montessori Kin- 
dergarten. 

The Normal Child and Primary Education, Ginn & Co., Boston, 

1912. 

Contains an interesting chapter on the evolution of the racial 
hand. 
Green, J. A. A Note on Backward Children. The Journal of Experi- 
mental Pedagogy. (London.) Vol. 1, No. 2, Nov., 1911, pp. 
158-159, and Vol. 1, No. 3, Mar., 1912, pp. 223-226. 

Two excellent short articles showing the necessity for better 
meeting the needs of the great number of backward children in 
the schools of England. Advocates a plan similar to the Mann- 
heim system for large cities. 

Hall, G. Stanley. Educational Problems, Vols. 1 and 2. New York, 
Appleton. 

See Chapter VIII on "Industrial Education" and Chapter 
XXII on "Some Defects in our Public Schools." 
Hall, G. Stanley and others. Aspects of Child Life and Education. 
Ginn & Company, Boston, 1907. See, A Study of Dolls, by 
Hall & Ellis, pp. 157-203. 
Hamilton, Lucie. Education of the Backward Child. Educational 
Work. Vol. 1, pp. 6-8. 

An interesting article by the original teacher under the Batavia 
System. 
Harris, Wm. T. Class Intervals in Graded Schools. N. E. A. Pro- 
ceedings, 1900. p. 332-340. 
Hutton, Thomas B. Classification and Gradation. School Review. 
* Vol. 16, pp. 543-550. Chicago, 1908. 

Le Mars, Iowa Plan. An application of the so-called Cam- 
bridge plan to all the grades. 
Jahresbericht iiber den Stand der dem Volksschulrektorat unterstellten 
Stadtischen Schulen in Mannheim in Schuljahr, 1908-09. Mann- 
heim, 1909, p. 86. 

Contains a full account of the Mannheim Special Class System. 
• Jones, Olive M. Teaching Children to Study. The Group System 
Applied. New York, 1909. 
Jones, W. Franklin. Study of Grading and Promotion. Psycholog- 
ical Clinic, May and June, 1911. pp. 63-96; 99-120. 
p Kennedy, John. The Place of Individual Instruction in Secondary 
Schools. Educational Work. Vol. 1, pp. 154-156. 

Contains a valuable bibliography on Classification and Grad- 
ing. 



186 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Klamer, C. S. Die zuriickgebliebenen Kinder in der Volksschule. 
No. 77 Pddagogischen Abhandlungen. A. Helmich, Bielefeld. 

Contains suggestions for dealing with the less gifted by ar- 
rangements within the classes. Opposes the Mannheim System. 

Ladd, Edwin A. (Principal Batavia High School.) Individual Instruc- 
tion in High School Work. Educational Work. Vol. 1, pp. 8-10. 

Landon, J. School Organization. London, 1889. 

Lange, K. Die Schwachen in der Schule. Pddagogische Studien, 
1901. Vol. 22. 
Opposes the Mannheim System. 

Leather, Herbert. England and Her Retarded Children. The 
Elementary School Teacher. Vol. X, No. 7, March, 1910. pp. 
326-333. 

Levine, Michael. Treatment of Stuttering, Stammering and Lisping 
in a New York City School. Psychological Clinic, June, 1912. 
pp. 93-106. 

Has a bibliography of 25 titles. 

Mahony, John J. The Problem of the Poor Pupil. Education. 
Vol. 28, 197-212. Boston, 1908. 

Treats the problem of the backward child and the failure of 
the schools to reach him. 

May, Maude G. The Montessori Method. The London Journal of 
Education. September, 1909. 

Perry, W. H. A Study of the Batavia Plan in Westerly, R. I. N. E. 
Journal of Education, Feb. 9, 1911. Vol. LXXIII, p. 146. 

Petzold, J. Sonderschulen fur hervorragend Befahigte. B. G. 
Teubner, Leipzig, 1905. 

Pretzel, C. L. A. Gegen die Mannheimer Schulorganisation. Die 
Deutsche Schule, Vol. 8, pp. 603-18. 

Prince, J. T. School Administration. Appendix E on Special Schools 
and Classes, pp. 290-93; and Chapter 11, pp. 220-225, Schools 
for Defectives and Delinquents, Syracuse, 1906. 

Richman, Julia. A Successful Experiment in Promoting Pupils. 
Educational Review. Vol. 18, pp. 23-29. New York, 1899. 

Special Classes and Special Schools for Delinquent and Back- 
ward Children. Charities and Corrections, 1907. p. 232. 

Rigler, F. Principles of Classification, in The Thirty-Sixth Annual 
Report of the Public Schools of Portland, Oregon. 1909, pp. 107-113. 

Scripture, E. W. Treatment of Hyperphonia (Stuttering and Stam- 
mering) by the General Practitioner. The Medical Record, 
March 21, 1908. 

Search, P. W. An Ideal School. Appleton, New York, 1902. 357 
pages. 

The Pueblo Plan. Educational Review. Vol. 7, pp. 154-170. 

Smith, Theodate L. Dr. Maria Montessori and her Houses of Child- 
hood. Pedagogical Seminary. December, 1911. 

Stern, William. The Supernormal Child. Journal of Educational 
Psychology, March, 1911 and April, 1911. 

Stevens, Ellen Y. Montessori and Froebel— A Comparison. The 
Elementary School Teacher, February, 1912. 

Swift, Edgar James. Mind in the Making. Charles Scribner's Sons, 
New York, 1908. 329 pages. 

Advocates Individualized Education. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 187 

Taylor, Chas. K. Retardation in the Elementary Schools of Phila- 
. delphia. Psychological Clinic, May, 1912, pp. 79-90 and June, 
1912, pp. 107-121. 
A valuable discussion of the sociological factor in retardation. 

Thorndike, Edward L. Promotion, Retardation and Elimination. 
Psychological Clinic, Vol. 3, pp. 232-40. Jan., 1910. 

Tozier, Josephine. Articles on the Montessori Schools and Methods, 
in McClure's Magazine, May, 1911, December, 1911, January, 
1912. 

Warren, A. B. Individual Instruction in Chemistry and Physics. 
Educational Work. Vol. 1, pp. 244, 245. 

Individual Instruction — The Pupil. Educational Work. Vol. 

2, pp. 91-93. 

Watson, E. S. The Problem of Grading and Classification in Rural 
Schools. Proceedings of American Institute of Instruction, 1908. 

Winch, W. H. Notes on German Schools, Longmans, Green & Co. 
London, 1904, 264 p. 

Opposes freedom of classification. 

"My suggestion that some children might advance two stand- 
ards in one year was by no means favorably received and I 
incline to the German view that a double promotion in one year 
is rarely advisable. Some ten years ago, in England, freedom 
of classification by the teacher was permitted by the Day School 
Code. There was much hopeful promotion of the brighter chil- 
dren, but experience has revealed unfortunate results, and now, 
almost universally in English schools, two standards in one year 
are no longer attempted, except with a very small proportion 
of the abler pupils. Inspector of Schools." p. 87. 

Winzer. Die Mannheimer Schulorganization, Zeitschift fur Phil- 
osophic und Pddagogik. Vol. 13, pp. 355-363, 1906. 

Report of Dr. Sickinger's lectures before the teachers at the 
Summer School at Jena, 1905. A very good presentation. 

Wyllie, John. Disorders of Speech. Edinburgh, 1894. 

Young, Ella Flagg. Grading and Classification. N.E. A. Proceed- 
ings, 1893. pp. 83-86. 

For further information see articles in volumes of Proceedings 
of National Educational Association and in the magazines: 
The Psychological Clinic, Journal of Educational Psychology, 
Journal of Education, Educational Review and Education. 



188 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Part Two 

SPECIAL OR AUXILIARY SCHOOLS AND 
CLASSES 

Bancroft, Margaret and Farrington, E. A., M. D. Manual of 
the Course of Study of Bancroft Training School for Mentally 
Subnormal Children, Haddonfield, New Jersey, 120 pages, 1909. 
Ware Bros. Co., Philadelphia. 

Contains an excellent course in sense-training, also many other 
valuable suggestions for teachers of mentally defective children. 

Barr, Martin W., M. D. Mental Defectives: their History, Treat- 
ment and Training. Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1904. 368 pages. 
Has bibliography of the Writings of Edward Seguin, p. 338. 
Also very full bibliographies on the different kinds of mental 
defect. 

The Career of a Moral Imbecile. The Alienist and Neurolo- 
gist, July, 1911. 

Basedow. Was kann in unterrichtlicher und erziehlicher Beziehung 
geschehen, um den schwachbegabten Kindern in kleinen Gem- 
einden zu helfen? Zeitschrift fur Kinderforschung. Vol. 15, 
pp. 246-250, 1909. 

A large task of society consists in extending the arrangement 
of auxiliary schools to the rural districts. Of the 120,000 feeble- 
minded children in Germany, 1 to l}i% of the school population, 
only 24,000 are receiving special instruction. Suggestions for 
establishing universal institutions. 

Becker, Sophie C. The Training of Defective Children from a 
Principal's Standpoint (in Report of Proceedings of the 63d 
Annual Meeting, New York State Teachers Association) Edu- 
cation Department Bulletin, No. 457, pp. 99-114. 

Bicknell, G. H., M. D. The Influence of Defective Sight and Hearing 
on Mental Development. Journal of Psycho- Asthenics. March- 
June, 1907, pp. 27-30. 

Berry, D. Mentally Defective School Children in School and After- 
wards. Journal Royal Institution Public Health, London, 1909, 
Vol. 17, pp. 333-341. 

Binet, Alfred. Les Enfants Anormaux, Paris, 1907. 

Written to aid teachers and physicians to determine what 
children should be admitted to special schools and classes. 

Les Idees Modernes sur les Enfants. Flammarion, Paris, 1909. 

See especially Chapter 5, part 2. La Mesure de 1 'Intelligence 
and Chapter 2, part 2, La Mesure du Degre d' Instruction. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 189 

Bolton, F. E. Public Education of Exceptional Children. Educa- 
tional Review. Vol. 44, No. 1, June, 1912. pp. 62-69. 

A summary of what has been done for exceptional children 
in the United States, suggesting lines of development. 

Boodstein, Otto, Dr. Die Erziehungsarbeit der Schule an Schwach- 
begabten. 432 p. G. Reimer, Berlin, 1908. 

Busch, W. Ausbildung der Hilfschullehrer. Zeitschrift fur Behand- 
lung Schwachsinniger, etc., p. 134. Dresden, 1905. 

Chotzen, F., Dr. Die Bedeutung der Intelligenzprufungs — Methode 
von Binet und Simon fur die Hilfsschule. Die Hilfsschule. 
Vol. 5, No. 6, June, 1912, pp. 153-162. 

Gives a summary of the work of Bobertag with the Binet and 
Simon tests. 

Clerc, Ed. M. Les anormaux en Suisse. V Educateur, Lusanne 
August, 1909. 

Cornell, Walter S. Health and Medical Inspection of School 
Children. F. A. Davis & Co., Philadelphia, 1912. 

In the chapter on Mental Deficiency, holds to the view cham- 
pioned by Witmer that "malnutrition, adenoids, home illiteracy, 
or foreign parentage may be the cause of a retardation of two 
or three years evidenced by the Binet tests." 

Dawson, George E. A Characterization of the Prevailing Defects 
in Backward Children and a Method of Studying and Helping 
Them. Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 16, pp. 429-36. December, 
1909. 

Physical Study of the Child. Charities and Corrections, 1907. 

pp. 243-250. 

Contains valuable suggestions for the determination of defects 
in children. 

Decroly et Degand. La mesure de l'intelligence chez des enfants 
normaux d'apres des tests de Binet et Simon. Archive de 
Psychologic Jan., 1910, pp. 81-108. 

Edson, Andrew W. Bibliography on Training of- Backward Children. 

1. Special classes, special treatment for mental defectives, 
35 titles. 

2. Special classes, special treatment, backward, truant, and 
disciplinary classes, 25 titles. 

3. Medical inspection and treatment, 27 titles (in Report of 
the Proceedings of the 63d Annual Meeting, New York State 
Teachers Association). Education Department Bulletin, No. 
457, pp. 114-116. 

Ehrig, C. Die Fortbildungs-schule der Hilfsschule fur Schwachbe- 
fahigte in Leipzig. Zeitschrift f. d. Behandlung Schwachsinniger 
und Epileptischer, 1907, No. 67, p. 99-110. 

Advocates special continuation schools adapted to the ability 
and needs of the pupils leaving the Auxiliary Schools. 

Eltes, M. Die erste Hilfsschule in Ungarn. Zeitschrift fur Kinder- 
forschung, Vol. 14, pp. 374-5, 1909. 

Evans, Elizabeth G. and Dewson, Mary W. Feeble-Mindedness 
and Juvenile Delinquency. A Study from Experience (in Report 
of Trustees of the Lyman and Industrial School. Public Docu- 
ment, No. 18, State of Massachusetts, p. 11, Dec, 1908. 



190 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Farrell, Elizabeth E. The Educational Organization and The Work 
of the Special Class. Chapters IV and V of The Special Class 
for Backward Children, see under Witmer. See also Miss Far- 
rell's article in N. E. A. Proceedings, 1908. 

Fernald, W. E. The History of the Treatment of the Feeble-Minded. 
Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correc- 
tions, 1898. 

Ftjchs, A. Hilfsschulliteratur. Die Deutsche Schule. p. 389, 1905, 
Leipzig. 

Goddard, Henry H. Bibliography of Mental Deficiency, 156 titles. 

The Training School, Vol. 6, Nos. 2 and 3, pp. 11-19. Vineland, 

N. J., 1909. 
How Shall We Educate Mental Defectives? The Training 

School, May, 1912. pp. 42-45 and June, 1912, 56-61. 

A sane plea for manual training for the mental defective in 

farm and industrial colonies, showing the folly of drill in the 

three R's for these children. 
Height and Weight of Feeble-Minded Children. Journal of 

Nervous and Mental Diseases, April, 1912. 
A valuable contribution, a result of the study of 10,844 cases: 

5,923 males and 4,921 females, showing that among morona 

growth is practically normal during the immature years with a 

somewhat earlier arrest than in normal persons. 
The Form Board as a Measure of Intellectual Development in 

Children. The Training School, June, 1912, pp. 49-52. 

Goddard says: "We have in our Laboratory no other test 

that shows us so much about a child's condition in so short a 

time as the Form Board." 
What is Being Done in Studying Mental Defectives. Proceed- 
ings of Conference of Charities and Corrections, 1909. pp. 

98-100. 
Groszmann, Maximilian P. E. Exceptional Children Not Needing 

Segregation. The Classification of Exceptional Children as a 

Guide in Determining Segregation. Reprinted from the 

Bulletin of the American Academy of Medicine. Vol. 10, No. 5, 

Oct., 1909. 
Some Phases of Eccentric Mentality in Children. Education. 

Vol. 28, pp. 90-96. Boston, 1907. 
Grothe, A. Uber Schuleinrichtungen fur schwachbegabte Kinder. 

Zeitschrift fur Schulgesundheitspflege. No. 10, pp. 557-59. 

Hamburg, 1900. 

Gives a history of founding of .the first Hilfsschule in Halle, 

1859. 
Healy, William. The Mentally Defective and the Courts. Journal 

of Psycho- Asthenics, September and December, 1910. Vol. 

15, Nos. 1 and 2, pp. 44-57. 
An earnest plea for the recognition of the seriousness of the 

problem of the feeble-minded by the medical profession. Urge» 

the appointment of a commission to define mental deficiency 

and to evaluate generally usable diagnostic tests. 
Hedger, Caroline. Physical Examination of Below-grade Children. 

Illinois Medical Journal. Vol. 15, pp. 433-39, 1909. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 191 

Henderson, Charles R. Physical Study of Children. Charities 
and Corrections, 1907. pp. 251-55. 

Gives results of Swiss census of defective children of primary 
school age. 

Henz, W. Leitfaden der gesamten Heilpadagogik. A. S. Shroedel, 
Halle, 1909. 178 pages. 

Contains an historical account of the establishment of auxiliary 
schools and also suggestions as to their organization. It also 
treats courses of instruction for the blind and deaf and for stut- 
terers and stammerers. 

Hough, C. A. A plea for the enforced examination of backward school 
children and for the treatment of remediable conditions. Ohio 
Medical Journal. Vol. 5, pp. 72-74. 1908. Columbus. 

Huey, E. B. Backward and Feeble-Minded Children. A Clinical 
Study in the Psychology of Defectives, with a Syllabus for the 
Clinical Examination and Testing of Children. Warwick and 
York, Baltimore, 1912. 213 pages. 

An excellent and readable book of clinical cases of 37 morons. 
A valuable book for special teachers to own. 

Retardation and the Mental Examination of Retarded Children. 

Journal of Psycho- Asthenics. Sept. and Dec, 1910. Vol. 15, 
Nos. 1 and 2, pp. 31-43. 

An important contribution, showing the need of tests to de- 
termine retardation above the level of feeble-mindedness. "Be 
sure that defectives above the mental level of twelve years are 
the trouble makers and the trouble receivers. They are present- 
ing the most serious of the problems of society. We must care 
for them." 

Johnson, G. E. Contribution to the Psychology and Pedagogy of 
Feeble-Minded Children. The Pedagogical Seminary. Vol. 3, 
1894-96, pp. 246-291. 

Johnstone, E. R. The Functions of the Special Class. N. E. A. 
Proceedings, 1908. pp. 1114 to 1118. 

The Social Side of the Question of Special Class Children (in 

Report of Proceedings of the 63d Annual Meeting, New York 
State Teachers Association). Education Department Bulletin, 
No. 457, pp. 95-98, Oct. 15, 1909, Albany, N. Y. 

The Welfare of Feeble-Minded Children. Pedagogical Seminary, 

Vol. 16, pp. 447-49. Dec, 1909. 

The Summer School for Teachers of Backward Children. Jour- 
nal of Psycho- Asthenics. Vol. 14, pp. 122-128. 

Description of the school for special class teachers at Vineland , 
New Jersey, under Principal Johnstone and Dr. Goddard. 

Keen, Dora. Defectives among Juvenile Delinquents. Charities 
and Corrections, 1906. p. 566. 

A plea for establishing special kindergartens and special day 
school classes for the backward children in order to get hold of 
the backward children as young as possible. 

Kirmsse, M. Die Zunahme des Schwachinns in England. Zeitschrift 
fur Kinderforschung. Vol. 15, p. 349. 1909. 

Klemm, L. R. A Separate School for Dullards, in his European Schools. 
p. 77, New York, 1889. 

Describes the object, organization, methods and means of 



192 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

instruction in one of the first special schools, that of Elberfeld 

in Germany. 
Kotscher, L. M. Geschlechtliche Preversitaten bei Schwachsinnigen 

Eos. Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1-16. 
Kuhlmann, F. A Reply to Dr. L. P. Ayres' Criticism of the Binet 

and Simon System for Measuring the Intelligence of Children. 

Journal of Psycho- Asthenics. Vol. 16, No. 2, Dec, 1911. pp. 

58-67. 

This reply shows clearly that many of Ayres' criticisms are not 

well founded. 
Binet and Simon's System for Measuring the Intelligence of 

Children. Journal of Psycho- Asthenics. Vol. 15, Nos. 3 and 4, 

March and June, 1911. pp. 76-92. 

The only translation of the Binet-Simon tests containing 

the detailed comments on the tests by Binet and Simon. 
The Present Status of the Binet and Simon Tests of the Intelli- 
gence of Children. Journal of Psycho- Asthenics. Vol. 16, No. 

3. March, 1912. pp. 113-139. 

An excellent summary of the work done with the scale by 

Binet and Simon, Goddard, Terman and Childs, Decroly and 

Degand, Johnston, and Bobertag. Has a full bibliography of 

some 37 titles. 
Ktjnze, H. Die Hilfsschule zu Halle. Zeitschrift fur Schulgesund- 

heitspflege. No. 2, pp. 85-97. Hamburg, 1901. 

The best description of the Halle Hilfsschule, p. 86 et seq. 
Lapage, C. P. Feeble-mindedness in Children of School Age with 

an appendix on Treatment and Training by Mary Denby. 

Manchester, 1911. 

One of the best books for the general reader. The chapter 

on speech defects is especially valuable as is the part of the book 

on the education of the mental defective by Miss Denby. The 

glossary of technical terms is helpful. Contains a bibliography. 
MacDonald, Arthur. Experimental Study of Children, including 

Anthropometrical and Psycho-physical Measurements of Wash- 
ington School Children in U. S.— Education, Comm's of Report, 

1897-98. Vol. 1, pp. 985-1204. 
Maennel, B. The Auxiliary Schools of Germany. Six Lectures 

translated from the German by F. B. Dressier. Bureau of 

Education Bulletin, No. 3, 1907. 119 pages. Appendix on 

Special Schools by Dr. L. R. Klemm. 
Maier (Hans Wolfgang). Uber Moralische Idiotie. Journal fur 

Psychologie und Neurologic Vol. 13, p. 57. 1908. 
Meumann, E. Der Gegenwartige Standt der Methodik der Intelli- 

genzpriifungen mit besonderer Rucksicht auf die Kinder- 

psychologie. Zeitschrift fur Experimentelle Paldagogik, 1910. 

pp. 68-79. 
Morrow and Bridgman. Delinquent Girls Tested by the Binet Scale. 

The Training School, May, 1912. pp. 33-36. 
The article shows that of the sixty girls in the State Training 

School at Geneva, Illinois, only six tested "normal," yet all 

will be set adrift at twenty-one years of age. 
Newman, Matilda Vance. Backward Children — Some Experiences 

and Suggestions. Western Journal of Education, Vol. 13, pp. 

513-516. San Francisco, 1908. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 193 

Norsworthy, Naomi. The Psychology of Mentally Deficient Chil- 
dren. Teachers College, Columbia Univ., 1906. Ill pages. 
The study seeks "to determine: 1. Whether the mental 
defects of idiots are equaled by the bodily, (2) whether idiots 
form a species or not, and (3) whether the entire mental growth 
is retarded." 

Report of the Royal Commission on the care and control of the Feeble- 
Minded, Vols. 1-8, Wyman & Sons, London, 1908. Reviewed 
by H. H. Goddard. American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 20, 
No. 3, July, 1909, pp. 456-7. 

Goddard says it is the most important contribution to the 
literature of Mental Defectives that has appeared for many 
years. Commission of 11 men and 1 woman appointed by King 
Edward in 1904 to consider the existing methods of dealing with 
idiots and epileptics, and with imbecile, feeble-minded, or defec- 
tive persons. 

Report of the Committee on Special Education, Committee on Pro- 
fessional Work, Philadelphia Teachers Association, 1909. 
16 pp. 

Contains a report of the census of the backward and feeble- 
minded children in the schools of Philadelphia and suggestions 
and plans for properly educating these children. 

Richman, Julia. Special Classes and Special Schools for Delinquent 
and Backward Children. Charities and Corrections, 1907. 
p. 232. 

Risley, S. D., M. D. Is Asexualization Ever Justifiable in the Case 
of Imbecile Children? Journal of Psycho- Asthenics, Vol. 9, 
No. 4, June, 1905. pp. 92-97. 
Takes the affirmative side. 

Rogers, A. C, M. D. Borderland Cases. Journal of P sycho- Asthenics , 
March and June, 1907. pp. 19 to 24. 

Rosenfeld, Jessie. Special Classes in the Public Schools of New York . 
Education, Vol. 27, pp. 92-100. Boston, 1907. 

Rotges, E. Les classes d'anormaux a Bordeaux. L'Enfant, Vol. 18, 
No. 169, 20 Feb., 1909. pp. 22-27. 

Schmid-Monnard. Die Ursachen der Minderbegabung von Schul- 
kindern. Zeitschrift fur Schulgesundheitspflege, No. 10, pp. 
552-56, Hamburg, 1900. 

Seguin, Edouard. On Idiocy and its Treatment by the Physiological 
Method, NewYork, 1866. Reprint Teachers College, Columbia 
University, 1907. Ireland, W. W., says of Seguin, Journal of 
Mental Science, Vol. 53, p. 833: 

"The principles of education laid down by him in different 
treatises are still the basis of all teaching of the feeble-minded, 
and, indeed, are useful in ordinary pedogogy." 

Sherlock, E. B. The Feeble-Minded — A Guide to Study and Prac- 
tice. Macmillan, London, 1911. 327 pages. 

A scholarly and readable book. Advocates permanent cus- 
todial care for the mental defective in industrial and farm 
colonies. 

Sherman, E. B. What the Regular Class Teacher Should Know of 
Mental and Moral Delinquency. N. E. A. Proceedings, 1908. 
p. 943. 



194 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 

Shields, T. E. The Making and the Unmaking of a Dullard. Cath- 
olic Education Press, Washington, D. C, 1909. 287 pages. 
Tells the true story of the awakening of a dull boy. 

Shuttleworth, G. E. and Potts, W. A. Mentally Defective Children: 
their Treatment and Training. Third edition, Philadelphia, 
1910. 236 pages. 

This standard book has much information of direct value to 
the teacher of special classes. It contains specimen forms to be 
used by physicians and special class teachers and specimen class 
programs. It has a good bibliography. 

Smart, Isabelle Thompson, M. D. Medical Examiner for Ungraded 
Classes, Board of Education, New York City. Some Urgent 
Needs for Advancement in the Education of Mentally Defective, 
p. 1143, N. E. A. Proceedings, 1908. 

Smith, Margaret K. The Psychological Aspect of Training Backward 
Children, in Report of Proceedings of the 63d Annual Meeting. 
New York State Teachers Association. Education Department 
Bulletin, No. 457, pp. 85-94, Oct, 15, 1909, Albany, N. Y. 

Stotzner, E. Zur Hilfsschule fur Schwachsinnige. Zeitschrift fur 
Behandlung Schwachsinniger, p. 30. 1905, Dresden. 

Terman, L. M. The Binet-Simon Scale for Measuring Intelligence. 
Impressions gained by its Application upon Four Hundred 
Non-Selected Children. Journal of Psycho- A sthenics, Vol. 16, 
No. 3, June, 1912. pp. 103-112. 

Tredgold, A. T., Dr. Mental Deficiency (Amentia). Wood & Co., 
New York, 1908. 391 pages. 

Probably the best single volume on the subject of Amentia. 

Van Sickle, J. H., Dr., Witmer, L., Dr., and Ayres, L. P., Dr. 
Provision for Exceptional Children in Public Schools. Bulletin 
No. 14, U. S. Bureau of Education, 1911. 92 pages. 

A valuable monograph by three experts. Contains a sug- 
gestive chapter on the selection and training of teachers. 

Vogt, H. and Weygandt, W. Handbuch der Erforschung des jugend- 
lichen Schwachsinns. Fischer, Jena, 1912. 

Vogt, Heinrich. Die Epilepsie, im Kindesalter. Karger, Berlin, 
1910. 222 pages. 

Contains an account of establishment of public schools for 
epileptics. 

Williams, T. B. Psycho-prophylaxis in Childhood. Journal of 
Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 4, No. 3, p. 194. 

Treats of the recognition of incipient mental defects in children 
by teachers. 

Wilson, A., M. D. Unfinished Man. A Scientific Analysis of the 
Psychopath or Human Degenerate. London, Greening & Co. 
1910. 372 pages. 

Has a readable chapter on The Problem of Heredity. 

Witmer, Lightner, and others. The Special Class for Backward Chil- 
dren. The Psychological Clinic Press, Philadelphia, 1911. 
275 pages. An account of the experimental special class con- 
ducted at Summer School at the University of Pennsylvania, 
under the charge of Miss Elizabeth E. Farrell. Inspector of 
Ungraded Classes, New York City. 
A valuable study. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 195 

Ziehen, Th. Die Prinzipien und Methoden der Intelligenzpriifung. 
Karger, Berlin, 1911. 94 pages. 

The third edition of a book of tests for determining the presence 

of mental defect. 
Several hundred titles were collected that bore more or less closely 
on the work of the auxiliary schools and classes. It has been deemed 
wise to present only those given above. For students and teachers 
who are interested to study the problem further, the German magazine , 
Die Hilfsschule, the organ of the Association of German Auxiliary School 
Teachers, will be found helpful, as will the Enzyklopddisches Handbuch 
der Heilpddngogik. Many significant articles and special reports will 
be found in the recent volumes of Proceedings of the National Educationa I 
Association, and of the magazines: The Psychological Clinic, The Journal 
of Educational Psychology, The Training School and the Journal of 
Psycho- A sthenics . 



INDEX 



INDEX 



199 



INDEX TO PART ONE 



Able pupils, 49, 55. 

Abnormal children, treatment of, 
in public schools, 9. 

Accommodation classes, 121. 

Adjustment or ungraded classes 
120-126; course of study, 123 
in New York City, 121, 123-124 
in Syracuse, 124-125; number 
of, in large schools, 121; number 
of pupils in, 122; schoolroom 
for, 121-122; teacher of, 122- 
123. 

Adjustment schools in Los Ange- 
les, Cal., 125-126. 

Admission, age of, 16, 36. 

After school, keeping of pupils, 
114. 

Age limit, normal, for grades, 15. 

Age limits, Ayres', open to ques- 
tion, 16. 

Age, of entrance, 16; physiological, 
16; chronological, 131. 

Alexander, Charles S., 158. 

All class method of instruction, 
90, 109. 

American Institute of Instruction, 
13. 

Apperception mass, 116. 

Arithmetic, omission of, in lower 
grades, 17. 

Arithmetic, testing in, Medford, 
Mass., 18. 

Attention, 46; individual, 53. 

Auxiliary school, 60; special, 56. 

Ayres, L. P., 14. 

B 

Backward children, 61; individual 
instruction for, 64; room for, 
108. 

Backward pupils, 55, 74, 108; 
number of, 120. 



Backwardness, neural causes of, 

130; and precocity, 134. 
Baldwin, J. Mark, 134. 
Baltimore, Md., schools for gifted 

pupils, 138-139. 
Bancroft Training school, 189. 
Barnard's Journal, 13. 
Barr, M. W., 134. 
Batavia system, 63, 74-86, 151; 

applications of, 109; origin of, 

74. 
Bettinger, M. C, 125. 
Binet, orthopedic exercises of, 189. 
Blodgett, A. B., 124. 
Bluffing or deception on part of 

school children, 79. 
Bonser, F. G., 130. 
Books, use of, by pupils, 48. 
Bright pupils, 31, 52, 53; fetish, 

18; work with, 100. 
Brooklyn, Report of Teachers' 

Ass'n Committee on School 

Organization, 147-152. 
Bryan, E. B., 14. 
Burk, Mrs. C. F., 35. 



Cahier (French) personal record 
book of pupil, 150. 

Cambridge plan, 36-39; teacher's 
objections to, 38; and half-year- 
ly promotions, 39. 

Caste system, 128. 

Chalmers, W. W., 24. 

Charlottenburg plan, 55-56. 

Charlottenburg provision for able 
pupils, 135-136. 

Chelsea, Mass., graded course, 19. 

Chicago classes for stutterers and 
stammerers, 176-178. 

Child study, instruction in, 108. 

Childhood, houses of, 186, 188; 
rules for, 187. 

Chronological age, 131. 



200 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Claiborne, J. Herbert, 182. 

Class-individual instruction, 74- 
86; essentials of, 87-101. 

Class instruction, emphasis on, 
105. 

Class, marks, 47; membership, 
psychology of, 19; origin of, 12; 
Pestalozzi's use of, 13; recita- 
tions, 85. 

Class versus class-individual plan 
of instruction, 62-73; opinions 
of superintendents and princi- 
pals on, 62-64. 

Classes, size of, 55, 64, 84. 

Classification, plans of, 26-54; 
Harris' discussion of, 14. 

Classification and instruction, sug- 
gestions for plan of, 84-86. 

Clements, R. E., 140. 

Cleveland Elementary Industrial 
School, 161-172. 

Clinic for study of gifted children, 
131. 

Coaching and teaching, 105. 

Comenius, 12. 

Community interest in class, 63. 

Compulsory age of attendance, 36. 

Concentric (Santa Barbara) plan, 
33-36. 

Conradi, Edward, 173. 

Constant group, 51; advantages 
of, 52; disadvantages of, 53; 
formality of, 53. 

Cooper, Frank B., 175. 

Co-operation between school and 
home, 85; of pupil with teacher, 
46. 

Cornman, O. P., 14. 

Cost of public and private edu- 
cation compared, 127-128. 

Course of study, elementary 
school, 14; differentiated, 154- 
158; in fundamentals, 84. 

Credit, 150. 



D 



Davey, V. L., 140. 
Da Vinci, Leonardo, 134. 
Deficient children, ungraded clas- 
ses for, 64. 
Demotion unwise, 18. 
Departmental teaching, 143-146. 
Dexter, E. G., 24. 



Dewey, John, 128. 

Differentiated Courses of Study, 
154-158. 

Disciplinary or training schools, 
140-142; program of, 142. 

Dolls, value of, in practical teach- 
ing, 194. 

Double-track plan, 36. 

Draper, A. S., 19. 

Drills, 53; old-fashioned, and inde- 
pendent study, 51. 

Dull and slow children, 53; a- 
mount of time devoted to, 64. 

E 

East Orange, N. J., schools for un- 
easy boys, 140. 

Education, cheap, 127. 

Education, boys', cost of, in Ger- 
many, France and England, 
135; and social position, 136. 

Elementary or people's schools, 
12. 

Elementary school course of 
study, 14. 

Elimination, 15. 

Eliot, C. W., 127, 143. 

Elizabeth, N. J., Parental School, 
140. 

Elizabeth plan, 31-33. 

Environment and ability to pass 
tests, 131. 

Examination, fixed promotional, 
19. 

F 

Failure, philosophy of, as basis 
of course of study, 20. 

Failure of pupils in German 
schools, causes of, 57. 

Failures among pupils, 95. 

Farrington, F. E., 189, 191. 

Feeble-minded children, number 
of, 130. 

Fernald, W. E., Dr., 189. 

Fitchburg, Mass. Practical Arts 
School, 158-161. 

Foreign language work for elemen- 
tary pupils, 84. 

Freeman, Virginia W., 177. 

Froebel, F., 102. 

Fundamentals, a course of study 
in, 84. 

Furthering classes, 56. 



INDEX 



201 



G 



Galton, Sir Francis, 134. 

Genius, 133; incipient, 131; influ- 
ence of education on, 134; rela- 
tion of teacher to, 134. 

German plans of classification, 
55-61. 

Germany, school system of, 12. 

Gifted children, 60; clinic for 
study of, 131; mental age of, 
131; non-promotion of, 130; 
number of, 130; promotion 
classes for, 120, 127-139; in 
Germany, France and England, 
135-139; schools for, in U. S., 
139 

Gilbert, C. B., 19. 

Goddard, H. H., 11, 120, 130, 131, 
189. 

Goddard's study of 2,000 children, 
131. 

Graded school, origin of, 12. 

Grading, classification and in- 
struction, principles of, in Uni- 
ted States and Europe, 11; 
personal knowledge of child 
necessary to, 152. 

Gregory, B. C., 19. 

Grimshaw, Dr., 13. 

Groszmann, M. P., 133, 134. 
» Group help, 85. 

Group method, 151. 

Group system, 51-54. 

Group teaching, 91. 

Gutzmann, H., 174, 183. 



B 



Haaren, Supt., 145. 
Hailman, W. N., 164. 
Half-day sessions, 85. 
Half-year interval, 23, 24. 
Hall, G. Stanley, 173. 
Hamilton, Miss Lucie, 74. 
Harris, Wm. T., 24, 27, 29, 30, 

89 197. 
Hinsdale,' B. S., 78, 94. 
Hirsch, Wilhelm, 134. 
Holmes, S. H., 154. 
Home study, 49. 
Hughes, James L., 196. 



"Ideal (The) School" by Search, 
68. 

Ignorance, confessing by pupil, 
79. 

Improvement, a little girl's, under 
Batavia Plan, 82-84. 

Independence developed, 91. 

Idiot-savant, 133. 

Individual, aid, pupil's need of, 
92; child, 105; children, needs 
of, discussed, 108; expression 
and advancement, 150; help, 
85, 108; importance of, 
14; initiative, 47; instruction, 
13, 91; method of instruction 
in Prussia, 12, in France, 12, 
in Scotland, 12; neglected, 148; 
time to be given to individual 
instruction, 92-93; periods, or- 
der of, in program, 93 ; power 46, 
pupils, 46, 108; study of, 109; 
relation of individual work to 
class work, 94; supervisor, 120; 
teaching, training of teachers 
for, 102-119; unrecognized by 
normal trained teachers, 105; 
weak points of, discovery of, 
118; work, habits of, 54; record 
of, 94; 

Individualized instruction, 56. 

Individuals, minute studies of, 
109. 

Infant schools for tenement 

houses, 186. 
Initiative, pupil, 51; and self- 
direction, 84. 
Interchange of pupils under 
Mannheim Plan, 57. 



Jones, Olive M., 141. 

Jones' study of grading and pro- 
motion, 152. 

Jones, W. Franklin, 152. 

Judgment, development of pupils, 
48; training of pupils in, 46. 

K 

Kansas City, Mo., retardation in, 

17. 
Kennedy, Supt. John, 74. 



202 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



Kerschensteiner's investigations 
of gifted children in Munich, 
132. 

Kilpatrick, Van Evrie, 145, 149. 

Kindergarten, 55; idea, introduc- 
tion of, 14; instruction and 
over-age children, 16. 

Kussmaul. Adolf, 178. 



Landon, J., 12. 

Language classes, special, in 
Mannheim, 136; regulations for 
admission to, 137; foreign, drill 
in, 135. 

LaSalle, Canon, 12. 

Laurie, 12. 

Lazy pupil, 99. 

Leeds, England Practical Arts 
School, 161. 

Left-handedness and speech de- 
fects, 183. 

Le Mars, Iowa plan, 39-43; re- 
sults of, in Odebolt, Iowa, 41. 

Liebmann, A., 179, 180, 181, 185. 

Lugaro, Ernesto, 129. 

Luther, Martin, 12. 

M 

McCready, E. Bosworth, 182, 
183. 

MacMahon, Courtland, 184. 

Makuen, G. Hudson, 173. 

McHattie, Thomas J. T., 175, 
182, 184. 

Maiden, Mass., grading plan, 36. 

Mannheim system, 56-61; de- 
ficiencies peculiar to Mannheim 
pupils, 59; differentiation under, 
59; division of pupils, 60; men- 
tally defective pupils under, 
60; modification of, suggested 
for New York, 120; number of 
pupils attending furthering clas- 
ses, 60; opinions opposed to, 
60; promotions under, 59; pro- 
vision for able pupils, 135-136. 

Manual work, 84. 

Manu-mental schools, 153-172. 

Marks, working for, 95. 

Mass methods of instruction, 12. 

Mass teaching versus class-indi- 
vidualized teaching, 151. 



Maxwell, W. H., 36, 124. 

Medford, Mass., testing in arith- 
metic, 18. 

Memory work, abstract, 56. 

Mental endowment, Meumann's 
suggestions to ascertain, 131- 
132. 

Mentally defective children, 9, 
10, 11, 56. 

Meumann, E., 131. 

Miller, Charlton D., 72. 

Milwaukee, Wis., classes for stam- 
merers, 175. 

Missouri school laws, 15. 

Monitorial systems of Bell and 
Lancaster, 13. 

Montessori methods, 186-197. 

Montessori, Maria, 187, 191, 192, 
194. 

Morss, C. H., 18. 

Motor-minded pupils, 99. 

Motor-sensory training, 191. 

Mozart, 134. 



N 



New Britain, Conn., differentiated 
courses in, 154-158. 

Newton, Mass., individual work 
at, 68-73. 

New York City, Report of Teach- 
ers' Ass'n Committee on School 
Organization, 147-152. 

New York City disciplinary 
school, 141. 

Normal child, 35, 61. 

Normal progress, 14. 

Normal school pupils, class and 
individual teaching by, 108, 109. 

Normal school training for indi- 
vidual work, opinions of super- 
intendents on, 102-107. 

Normal school training of teach- 
ers, 50. 

North Denver plan of instruction, 
45-51; aims of, 46; and class 
organization, 45; and flexibility 
in class management, 45; and 
half-yearly interval, 45; disci- 
pline under, 49-50; difficulty of 
carrying out 50; procedure in 
carrying out, 50. 

North Denver reference libraries, 
47. 



INDEX 



203 



o 

Optional topics, course in, 84. 
Ordinary class recitation, 99. 
Orthopedic exercises of Binet, 189. 
Over-age problem, 35-36. 



Parallel classes, 120; in Volks- 
schule, 57; special course of 
study for, 57; number of, 57. 

Parental School, Elizabeth, N. J., 
140. 

Parker, F. W. Col., 76. 

Pearse, Carrol G., 175. 

People's schools, 12, 127. 

Per diem cost of education in U. 
S., 128. 

Peripatetic (departmental) meth- 
od, 145. 

Perry, A. C, 146. 

Personal record book, pupil's, of 
work accomplished, 84. 

Pestalozzi, 13, 102. 

Petzoldt, J., 133. 

Physiological, psychological and 
chronological age, 16. 

Portland, Oregon, plan, 43, 45; 
rates of progress under, 43, 45; 
class intervals in, 43. 

Power, comparison of, developed 
in athletic field and schoolroom, 
47. 

Practice training rooms, 108. 

Preperception mass, 116. 

Pretzel, 60. 

Prodigies, child, 133. 

Progress, by arbitrary standards 
unwise, 19; lack of, due to 
physical defects, 18; rates of, 
53. 

Promotion, or rapid classes, 121 ; 
classes for gifted pupils, 120, 
127-139; under Mannheim sys- 
tem, 59. 

Promotion intervals, 21 ; scien- 
tific studies of, needed, 25. 

Providence, R. I., 17; training 
schools, 140. 

Public education, cost of, com- 
pared to private, 127-128; lack 
of interest in, by legislators, 128. 

Pueblo plan, 65-68; and the un- 
graded school, 64. 



Pupil teachers, individual instruc- 
tion by, 109; in and out of class 
hours, 109; initiative of, 109. 

Pupils, individual study of, 118. 

Q 

Quincy idea and Batavia plan 
compared, 76-77. 

R 

Reading and arithmetic, demands 
in, 18. 

Reasoning ability of children, 130. 

Recitation, class, advantages of, 
46; best educational instrument, 
63; in relation to pupil's abili- 
ties, 46; period, 100. 

Records and equipment, 150. 

Reference libraries in North Den- 
ver, 47. 

Regents' examinations, relation 
of, to retardation and elimina- 
tion, 19. 

Regular class work, 90. 

Responsibility, pupil, 47, 51. 

Retardation, 14, 15, 16, 35, 36, 
129; amount of, in St. Louis and 
Kansas City, 31 ; forcing pupils 
in lower grades a cause, 17; 
worst type of, 130; and elimina- 
tion, 14; in German cities, 56; 
and yearly interval, 22. 

Reviews, 53. 

Rewards, 47. 

Rowe, Stuart H., 173. 

S 

St. Louis plan, 27-31; parent of 
short interval plans, 27; chief 
features of, 27-30; provides for 
dull and bright pupils, 27; 
stimulus to average and fair 
scholars, 29; and change of 
teachers, 29; and promotion to 
high school, 30; and slow pupils, 
30; disadvantages of, 30-31. 

Santa Barbara plan, 33-36; pro- 
gress of children under, 35. 

School-keeper and individual 
teacher compared, 94. 

School organization, differentia- 
tion of, to fit individual needs, 
129. 



204 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



School organization, Report of 
Committee of N. Y. City 
Teachers' Ass'n, 147-152; criti- 
cism of, 151; result of question- 
naire to 1,000 superintendents, 
147-148; summary of, 148. 

School sessions, 150. 

School system of Germany, 12. 

Scripture, E. N., 184. 

Search, Preston W., 65, 66, 67, 68. 

Seat or study work, 54. 

Seattle, Wash., school for stam- 
merers and stutterers, 175. 

Sectioning of lower grades, 31. 

Seguin, methods of, 189. 

Self -activity of pupil, 47, 91. 

Self -development of pupil, 151. 

Self-satisfaction of normal trained 
teachers, 105. 

Sequential studies, 32. 

Shearer plan, 31-33. 

Shifting group, 52; advantages of, 
53. 

Shuttleworth, G. E., 134. 

Sickinger, A., 57, 59. 

Sidis, William James, 134. 

"Six and six plan," 139. 

Sixth grade, differentiation of 
work in, 84. 

Size of classes, 55, 64. 

Small, W. H., 17. 

Slow pupils, 49, 55, 88; and indi- 
vidual instruction, 63. 

Smith, D. E., 17. 

Social service by pupils, 48. 

Society of Christian Brothers, 12. 

Spaulding, F. E., 68, 72. 

Special auxiliary schools, 56. 

Special promotion, 46. 

Stern's study of supernormal 
children, 132. 

Straubenmiller, Supt., 120. 

Stammerers and stutterers, classes 
for, 173-185. 

Stammering, 178-179; treatment 
of, 181; kinds of, 178. 

Stuttering, 181; causes of, 181- 
182; inheritance of, 182; as re- 
lated to right or left-handedness, 
182; treatment of, 183-185; 
kinds of, 178. 

Study, art of, 53, 91, 109; taught 
at Batavia, 78; course of, 150; 
habits of, 53; in school and after 



school, 46; independent, time 
for, 149; period, supervised, 80; 
sessions, 150. 
j Study, course of, rational, prere- 
quisite to grading and classifica- 
tion in Chelsea, Mass., 19; 
course of, within the powers of 
all normal children, 84. 

Subnormal children, study of, 129. 

Success, philosophy of, as basis 
of school work, 20. 

Summer schools for review work, 
150. 

Supernormal child, 131; number 
of, ascertained by Binet-Simon 
tests, 131. 

Supervisor, individual, 120; a 
friendly visitor, 85; a woman of 
maturity, 86. 

Supervisor of individual work, 85. 

Supervisor, special, for group of 
small classes, 63. 



Talamo, Edoardo, 186. 

Teaching, methods of, 150; pro- 
cess, 95; real method of, 91, 
and testing, differences between, 
79. 

Tenement house infant schools, 
186. 

Term interval, 25; advantages of 
and objections, 25; and progress 
in St. Louis, in Kansas City, 31. 

Thorndike, E. L., 14. 

Thoroughness, 53. 

Timidity of pupil under class 
instruction, 92. 

Training or disciplinary schools, 
140-142. 

U 

Unassigned teachers, 63, 69; in 
high school, 70; work of, 69-70. 

Uneasy boys, schools for, in 
East Orange, N. J., 140. 

Ungraded classes for deficient 
children, 64. 

Ungraded or adjustment classes, 
120-126; for normal pupils only, 
120; object of, 121; organiza- 
tion of, compared with common 
school, 120; size of, 122. 



INDEX 



205 



Uniformity, class, 50, 116. 
Unity, class, 50, 116. 
Unpreparedness of pupils, reasons 
for, 96. 

V 

Van Sickle, James H., 45, 46, 50, 
138, 139. 

Vienna school for stutterers, 174. 

Vineland, N. J. School for Feeble- 
minded, 189. 

Volksschule, parallel classes in, 57. 

W 

Wallin, J. E. W., 131. 
Westerly, R. I., Individual Work 
in; opinions of teachers on, 80. 



Whipple, G. M., 130. 

White, E. E., 23. 

White's study of promotions and 

examinations, 23. 
Wunderkind, 133. 

Y 

Yearly promotions, 22, 31. 

Yearly interval, prevails in Eng- 
land and Germany, 21; advan- 
tages and disadvantages of, 
21-23. 

Young, Ella Flagg, 17. 



Ziegler, 135, 136. 



206 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



INDEX TO PART TWO 



After-Care Association, 124-125. 

After-Care Committee of Birming- 
ham, England, 125. 

After-care visiting committee, 129. 

After-care guardians in Germany, 
141. 

After-care, in Germany, 139-141; 
in Switzerland, 141-142. 

After-care returns, analysis of, 
128. 

After-care societies in Germany, 
141-142. 

After-history of children leaving 
New York special schools, 133- 
139. 

Afternoon care-school, Budapest, 
61. 

Alphabet, sandpaper, 72. 

Amentia, 44. 

Aments, grades of, 29. 

Apprentice premiums, 141-142. 

Arithmetic, 82-83; Vaney's test 
in, 120-121. 

Attention, habits of, 81; power of, 
training, 69. 

Australia, special schools in, 24. 

Austria-Hungary, special schools 
in, 12-15; at Vienna, 12; Buda- 
pest (state), organization of, 
13-14; after-care, 14; city aux- 
iliary schools in, 15; Imperial 
Physiological Laboratory in 
state building, 14; libraries for 
pupils and teachers, 14; vaca- 
tion course for teachers in, 14. 

Auxiliary school, admission pro- 
cedure in Germany, 8; begin- 
ning of, in England, 10; begin- 
nings of, in Halle and Dresden, 
5; building and its equipment, 
56-59; candidates for, 44-45; 
conditions in organization of, 
in Germany, 8; corporal pun- 



ishment in, 64; discipline in, 
French, 66; early history of, in 
Germany, 5-6; French, rewards 
in, 66; in Elberfeld, 6; need for 
model building, 56; need of, 41- 
43; official decree recognizing, 
in Prussia, 6-7; one-session plan, 
60; pay of teachers in, 8; slow 
progress in establishing, in Ger- 
many, 6-7; special buildings in 
London, 56; two-session plan, 
objections to, 60; type of teach- 
er for, 65; work of Stotzner for, 
6. 

Auxiliary schools and classes, 
development of, in foreign coun- 
tries, 5; in Germany, 5; kinds 
of, 1; need of, 2; types of chil- 
dren for, 1. 

Auxiliary school boys, occupa- 
tions best for, 139-140. 

Auxiliary school girls, occupations 
best for, 140. 

Ayres, Leonard P., Dr., Ill, 172. 

B 

Backward boy, teacher's report of 
development of, 154-157. 

Backward pupils, teacher's role 
in determining, 114. 

Baltimore, Md., special classes, 36; 
for backward children, 36; for 
epileptics, 36; for mental defec- 
tives, 36; inadequate provision 
for mentally defective, 36. 

Bancroft, Margaret, 53. 

Belgium, special schools in, 15-17; 
first schools at Brussels, 15; 
medical supervision in, 17; 
number of defectives excluded 
from, 17; number of pupils in 
class, 16; organization of school 
in Ghent, 17; society for pro- 



INDEX 



207 



tection of abnormal children, 
17; special classes for pedagog- 
ically retarded children, 17; 
time-table and program at 
Brussels, 16. 

Benstead, George, 83. 

Berlin auxiliary schools, 145-149. 

Binet, Alfred, 19, 47, 75, 123. 

Binet and Vaney's tests of instruc- 
tion, 114-123. 

Binet scale, criticisms of, 110-113; 
revised, explanation of, 106-109; 
revision of, 103; revision by 
Goddard, 104-106. 

Binet-Simon graded tests, 1905 
series, 91-94; 1908 series, 94- 
102; chart showing results of, 
171-172; credit for answering, 
94; pictures used in making, 96; 
record blank used in Philadel- 
phia, 161-162; revised, God- 
dard's record blanks for, 168- 
170; used in Philadelphia 
schools, 97-102. 

Birmingham Education Com- 
mittee, report of, 130-131. 

Birmingham, England After-Care 
Committee, 125, 127-131. 

Bjorkman, Frances Maule, 65. 

Blank forms used in special 
schools, 173-178. 

Blewett, Ben, Supt., 35. 

Body building, 80. 

Boncour, 66. 

Boston, Mass., special classes, ad- 
mission, procedure of, 39; daily 
program, 61-62; equipment for 
manual training, 39; imbeciles 
excluded from, 39; in public 
school buildings, 38; inadequate 
provision for mental defectives, 
40; qualifications of teachers 
for, 39; sessions of, 38; size of, 
38; special classes, 38-40. 

Bottger, R., 139, 140. 

Breathing exercises, 79. 

British Central After-Care Com- 
mittee, 126-127. 

British Royal Commission on 
Care and Control of Feeble- 
Minded, 125. 

Budapest afternoon care-school, 
61. 



Chance, Sir William, 127. 
Coaching classes in New York 

City, 29. 
Color sense, development of, 69. 
Comparison of work in regular and 

special schools, 167. 
Competitive exercises, 76. 
Cornell, Walter S., Dr., 31. 
Corporal punishment, in auxiliary 

school, 64; in Brussels auxiliary 

schools, 65. 
Cunningham, Mrs., 35. 

D 

DeCroly, O., 81. 

Defective and Epileptic Act for 
auxiliary schools, 9. 

De Garmo's language books, 83. 

Denby, Mary, 75, 78; her work, 
12. 

Denmark, special schools in, 23. 

De Sanctis' tests, 88-91. 

Dictation, Vaney's tests in, 121- 
122. 

Dietary for feeble-minded chil- 
dren, 78. 

Discipline in auxiliary school, 
64-66 in France,; 66. 

Dramatic reading, 82. 

Drawing, work in, 86. 

Dressier, 145. 

Dull and backward children, 45- 
48; auxiliary classes not for, 46; 
caused by disease, 49-50; num- 
ber of, in school population in 
England, 46; types of, 46-48; 

Dynamometer exercises, 76. 

E 

Edson, A. W., Supt., 29. 

Eliot, C. W., Dr., 68. 

Ellis, Havelock, 42. 

Eltes, M., Director, 13. 

Employment bureau, 125. 

England, special schools, 9; age 
limits, and law, 11-12; com- 
pared with German, 10; course 
of study, 9; for older boys, 11; 
kinds of, 10; manual work in, 
11; medical provision, 9; nor- 
mal pupils in, 10; number of, 
in, 11; number of school hours, 



208 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



9; number of teachers in, 11; 
nurses in, 11; provisions for 
admission to, 9, 12; qualifica- 
tions of teachers, 9, 11; school 
buildings for, 9; size of classes, 
9, 11; wage-earning the aim, 9. 

Epileptics, New Jersey Committee 
recommendations for, 180. 

Epileptic children, 54-55; colonies 
for, 54; need of special classes 
for, 54. 

Examinations, treatment of chil- 
dren in, 118. 

Excursions, 85. 

Exercises in practical life, 84-85. 

F 

Farrell, Elizabeth, 27. 

Farrington, E. A., Dr., 71, 74. 

Fatigue in feeble-minded children, 
61. 

Feeble-minded, asexualization of, 
42; classes of, 93-94; classifica- 
tion of, under English Defective 
and Epileptic Children Act of 
1899, 44; cost of supporting, 42; 
custodial homes for, 42-43; 
fatigue in, 61; menace of, 42; 
New Jersey Committee recom- 
mendations for, 180; pauperism 
and crime, 43; progeny of, 41; 
sterilization of, 42; special 
school as a preventive agent, 
43; tests for, 93-94. 

Feeble-minded boy, 77. 

Feeble-minded children, in New 
York, Dr. Anne Moore's report 
of, 131-139; leaving New York 
schools, statistical table of, 
134-139. 

Feeble-minded school children, 
number of, Goddard's estimate, 
132; in New York public schools 
132 

Fernald, W. E., Dr., 52, 54, 56, 
83. 

Floor plans of English special 
school building, 179. 

Fod6r6, 64. 

Form, ideas of, 70. 

Formboard, 72. 

France, auxiliary schools of, 19-22; 
first recognized need of special 



classes, 19; French Auxiliary 
School Law, 19-22; pioneer 
work with mental defectives, 
19; schools in Paris and Bour- 
deaux, 22. 
Frenzel, Fr., 60. 



G 



Geography, work in, 87. 

Glasche, K. G., 64. 

Goddard, H. H., Dr., 3, 43, 47, 88, 
95, 103, 132. 

Goddard's record blanks for re- 
vised Binet tests, 168-170; work 
with Binet tests, 94-95. 

Guardians, after-care, in Ger- 
many, 141. 

Guggenbuhl, J. J., Dr., 64. 

Guggenmoos, K. G., 64. 

H 

Haupt, 5. 

Healy, W., Dr., 3, 11. 

Hearing sense, development of, 

70. 
Heller, Theodor, 19, 61. 
Henz, W., 5, 6. 
History, work in, 87. 
Holland, after-care in Rotterdam, 

18; first school at Rotterdam, 

18; organization of, 18; special 

schools in, 18-19. 
Home visits by teacher, 78. 
Huey, E. B., Dr., 91. 



Idiots, 44-45; classes of, 91-92; 

tests for, 91-92. 
Imbeciles, 44-45; classes of, 92- 

93; tests for, 92-93. 
Immobility, exercises in, 75. 
Instruction, tests of, Vaney and 

Binet's, 114-123. 
Italy, special schools in, 24. 
Itard, J. M. G., Dr., 64. 



Jelly, Dr., 39. 

Johnson, Katherine L., 113. 

Johnstone, E. R., 42. 



INDEX 



209 



K 

Kern, K. F., Dr., 5, 6, 64. 
Kerr, Dr., 124. 
Kirmsse, M., 65. 
Klemm, L. R., 25. 
Kuhlmann, F., 97. 



Laissez faire method of education, 

41. 
Lancashire and Cheshire Society 

for the Permanent Care of the 

Feeble-minded, 12. 
Language, 83-84; books, 83. 
Lapage, C. P., Dr., 78, 124, 125. 
Leathers, H., 12. 

Leipsic course in arithmetic, 82. 
Lepage, M. Leon, 15. 
Ley, Dr., 17. 
London County Council, Report 

of, 10. 
Long Division, difficulty of, for 

feeble-minded, 83. 
Lunches, school, 79. 

M 

Maennel, B., 5, 19, 38. 

Manual work, 80-81; in London 
special schools, 80. 

Maudsley, 81. 

Meals in special schools, 78-79. 

Mental defect, early discovery of, 
9. 

Mental defectives, encouragement 
of, 76. 

Mental orthopedy, 75. 

Mental tests, 88-113. 

Mentally defective, difficulty of 
determining, 10. 

Mentally defective boys, residen- 
tial home for, in England, 11. 

Mentally deficient children, ad- 
mission of, to special schools in 
Germany, 3; census of, in Phil- 
adelphia, 4, 31; city and county 
institution for care of, 2; cus- 
todial care of, 3; census of, 
needed, 3; education of, 43; 
Goddard's plea for custodial 
care in America, 3; in regular 
classes, 41; inadequate provi- 



sion for, in Boston, 40; lack of 
custodial care in England and 
Germany, 3; number of, 43; 
number of, in England, needing 
permanent care, 10; number of, 
in German institutions and 
auxiliary schools, 8; number of, 
in parochial schools, 4; out of 
place in regular class, 2; per- 
manent care for, 2; Philadel- 
phia effort for custodial care for, 
33; proportion of, in Germany, 
7 ; punishments recommended 
for, 65; segregation of, 43; self- 
support of, 3; socializing effect 
of normal pupils on, 30. 

Meumann, E. Dr., 51, 53, 88. 

Montessori, M., Dr., 90. 

Moore's (Anne Dr.) report of feeble- 
minded children in New York, 
131-139. 

Moral defective, 50-54; latent, 52; 
menace of, 54; special education 
of, 53; true, 52. 

Morons, 44-45; classes of, 93-94; 
special classes for, only, 55. 

Motor ability, 75. 

Motor development, interesting 
case of, 158-160. 

Muscular control, 76-77. 

Muscle-sense, 72-74. 



N 



Nature cabinet, 86. 

New Jersey Committee recom- 
mendations for feeble-minded 
and epileptics, 180. 

New York City special classes, 
26-30; admission to, 27; course 
of study in, 28 ; in regular school 
buildings, 26, 29; in separate 
buildings, 26-29; individual 
treatment of children in, 28; 
medical examination, 27; men- 
tal tests, 27; organization of, 
27; size of, 28; types of, 26; 
ungraded class a misnomer, 26; 

Normal child, school progress of, 
114. 

Norway, special schools in, 23. 

Number machines, 82. 

Nyms, 17. 



210 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD 



O 

Object lessons, 85-86. 
Occupations best for auxiliary 

school boys, 139-140. 
Occupations best for auxiliary 

school girls, 140. 
Offner, M., Dr., 61. 
Orthopedic exercises and Mon- 

tessori methods, 76. 
Orthopedic exercises of Vaney 

and Binet, 75-76. 



Pain sense, 70. 

Periods, place and length of, 61. 

Personal record blank, pupil's, 
165-166. 

Philadelphia investigation, test 
used in, 163-164. 

Philadelphia special class, 30-33; 
census, in mental defectives, 
31; in regular school buildings, 
32; in special building, 30; need 
of specially trained teachers, 
33. 

Philippe, 66. 

Physical training, 77-80. 

Physically defective, classifica- 
tion of, in England, 10. 

Pictures used in making Binet 
tests 96. 

Pinsent, Mrs. Hume, 125, 130. 

Pressure sense, 71. 

Probst, 65. 

Program, daily, in Boston, Mass. 
61-62; of three grade German 
auxiliary school, 63. 

Program of work, 67-87. 

Programs of work in special class- 
es, 150-153. 

Providence, R. I., special class, 
25, 37-38. 



R 



Rauschburg, Paul, 14. 

Reading, course in, 119-120; meth- 
ods in, 81-82; Vaney's 119-120. 

Record blank for Binet-Simon test 
used in Philadelphia, 161-162. 

Retardation, standard of, in 
France, 117. 



Retarded mental development , 

children of, 48. 
Rickoff, A. J., 25. 
Rotges, M., 22. 
Rouma, 69. 
Russia, special schools in, 24. 



Saegert, K., 64. 

St. Louis special schools, 33-35; 
admission to, 33-34; free trans- 
portation for children, 33; in 
special buildings, 33; medical 
examination, 35; program of, 
34; special supervisor, 33; work 
of Supt. Soldan for, 34; 

Sandelbridge, permanent home at, 
12. 

Scale of instruction, value of, 123. 

School sessions and the daily 
program, 60-63. 

School tramps, 79. 

Schroter, 8. 

Schulze, R., 56, 57, 58. 

Scotland, special schools in, 22. 

Seguin, E., 19, 67. 

Seguin's educational method, 67, 

Sense-room at Waverley, 75. 

Sense training, 67 ; exercises in, 68- 
75; value of, 68. 

Sessions, school, 60-63 ; one session 
plan in auxiliary schools, 60. 

Shop lesson method for feeble- 
minded, 83. 

Simon, Theodore, 47. 

Smart, Isabelle Thompson, 27. 

Smell, sense of, 74-75. 

Soldan, Louis W., Supt., 33. 

Special classes, programs of work 
in, 150-153; provisions for, in 
small cities and towns, 55. 

Special schools, blank forms used 
in, 173-178; number of, in Eng- 
land, 124. 

Special schools in U. S., 25-40; 
Cleveland, 25; compulsory at- 
tendance laws, 25; New York 
City, 26-30; Providence, 25; 
slow development, 25. 

Stammerers and stutterers, 55. 

Statue exercises, 75. 

Stereognosis, 71-72. 



INDEX 



211 



Stoning, G., 51. 
Stotzner, H. E., 5, 6, 64. 
Sweden, special schools in, 24. 
Switzerland, special schools in, 22. 



Taste, sense of, 74. 

Teacher's role in determining 
backward pupils, 114. 

Temperature-sense, 74. 

Terman, Lewis M., Dr., 110. 

Test used in Philadelphia inves- 
tigation, 163-164. 

Toscano, 90. 

Touch, complex of senses, 70-74. 

Trade training for mentally de- 
fective children, 141. 

Tredgold, A. F., Dr., 46, 47, 48, 
49, 50. 52. 

Typewriter, use of by mentally de- 
fective, 37. 

U 

Ungraded classes in New York 
City, 28. 



Vacation, rural, for feeble-minded 
children, 79. 

Vaney, V., 75, 80, 114, 118. 

Vaney and Binet's tests of instruc- 
tion, 114-123. 

Vaney's, reading test, 119-12U 
scale of instruction, 115-117 
test in arithmetic, 120-121 
test in dictation, 121-122. 

Visual sense, exercises in, 68-69. 

W 

Wage earning and after care of 
mentally defective children, 
124-142. 

Wage earning ability of feeble- 
minded children, 125. 

Walks with pupils, 85. 

Wallin, J. E. W Dr., 109, 110. 

Washington, D. C, special classes, 
36-37; in special buildings, 36; 
manual training and domestic 
science, 37; use of typewriter, 
37. 

Waverley sense room, 75. 

Whipple, G. M., Dr., 57. 

Will power, development ot, 8U. 

































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